United States v. Wittek, 337 U.S. 346 (1949)

Citation: United States v. Wittek, 337 U.S. 346 (1949)
Parent Document: United States v. Wittek, 337 U.S. 346 (1949)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 1949-06-20
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/104687/united-states-v-wittek/ ↗

Full Text

1,117 chars

This was prewar, poor-relief, low-rent housing, rather than defense housing. These projects were subsidized. The rentals were keyed to the inadequacy of the income of the respective tenants. The rentals did not purport to equal the- level of those fixed by free competition for comparable privately owned housing. It was an important feature of the operating policy of these projects that a tenant be dispossessed, or “graduated” as the Authority termed it, whenever that tenant’s financial needs no longer entitled him to the subsidized privileges. The inappropriateness of applying to such projects rentals based upon levels fixed by free com-. petition as of January 1, 1941, under the District of Columbia Emergency Rent Act, is evident. That Act’s policy of rent control fostered the continuance of tenancies regardless of 'the financial status of the individual tenant. If applied to low-rent housing it would give vested rights to relief clients once installed, rather than to new clients in greater need. . In the absence of an express statement by Congress, it is not conceivable that Congress, with its *358

Other Sections in This Document (147)

Full Text