Virna Daniels v. Eric Brown

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 8:11-cv-02938-AW Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999259513].. [13-1648]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 13-1648

VIRNA M. DANIELS,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
ERIC C. BROWN, in his official capacity as Executive
Director of the Housing Authority of Prince George’s County;
HOUSING AUTHORITY OF PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY,
Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Greenbelt.
Alexander Williams, Jr., District
Judge. (8:11-cv-02938-AW)

Submitted:

November 25, 2013

Decided:

December 16, 2013

Before AGEE, KEENAN, and FLOYD, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Virna M. Daniels, Appellant Pro Se.
James T. Massey, RENO &
CAVANAUGH PLLC, Washington, D.C., for Appellees.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
In August 2010, Virna M. Daniels began receiving a
monthly housing subsidy from the Homeownership Option of the
Housing Choice Voucher Program, 42 U.S.C. § 1437f (West 2012)
(“Section

8”).

Fourteen

pursuant

to

U.S.C.

Authority

42

of

executive

Prince

months
§ 1983

George’s

director

later,
(2006)

County

Daniels

brought

against

the

and

(collectively,

Eric

suit

Housing

Brown,

“HAPGC”),

its

alleging

deprivations of her due process rights and violations of her
rights

under

Development
Plan. 1

Section
(“HUD”)

8,

the

Department

regulations,

and

of

Housing

HAPGC’s

and

Urban

Administrative

Specifically, Daniels alleged that HAPGC deprived her of

her due process rights by failing to provide her an informal
hearing to challenge the calculation of her 2010 housing subsidy
(Counts I and II); and improperly reduced her subsidy by failing
to timely process her payment for August 2010 (Count III); using
an

inflated

exclude

her

estimate
son

and

of
his

her

income

income

from

(Count
the

IV);

failing

household

to

promptly

(Count V), and failing to credit her properly for her medical
expenses (Count VI).

1

HUD regulations require public
written administrative plans.

adopt
(2013).

2

housing authorities to
24 C.F.R. § 982.54(a)

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Daniels filed a partial motion for summary judgment on
Counts I, IV, V, and VI.

In an order entered on November 20,

2012, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of
Daniels

as

to

Count

I.

The

court

dismissed

Count

II

as

duplicative of Count I and otherwise denied Daniels’ motion.
The court scheduled a bench trial to determine damages on Count
I and liability on the remaining claims.
At the bench trial in March 2013, the district court
dismissed Count III as unsupported by the evidence.
entered

on

April

17,

2013,

which

Daniels

now

In an order
appeals,

the

district court ordered judgment for Daniels in the amount of
$25, comprising $24 in economic damages on Count VI and $1 in
nominal damages on Count I.

The court ordered judgment in favor

of the HAPGC on Counts IV and V.

Having thoroughly reviewed the

record, we affirm the district court’s judgment.
Daniels’ claims alleged violations of Section 8, HUD
regulations, and

HAPGC’s Administrative Plan. 2

“We review a

judgment resulting from a bench trial under a mixed standard of
review

—

factual

findings

may

2

be

reversed

only

if

clearly

The parties in this case do not dispute the district
court’s determination that Section 8 creates enforceable federal
rights under § 1983. Nor does either party dispute the district
court’s finding of Daniels’ right to enforce provisions of HUD
regulations and the Administrative Plan that define the housing
authority’s obligations and have a direct impact on the
calculation of her monthly assistance payments.

3

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erroneous,

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while

conclusions

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of

law

are

examined

de

novo.”

Plasterers’ Local Union No. 96 Pension Plan v. Pepper, 663 F.3d
210,

215

(4th

Cir.

2011).

Decisions

of

a

state

agency

implementing federal law should be afforded deference, in an
effort

to

“uphold

the

letter

of

federal

law

while

allowing

agencies the discretion to perform their function of reasonably
administering the federal program.”
146, 150 (4th Cir. 1996).

Clark v. Alexander, 85 F.3d

Such deference “applies only to the

extent the agency’s rules are not contrary to the statute or
regulation, and that question is one of law for the courts to
determine de novo.”

Ritter v. Cecil Cnty. Office of Hous. &

Cmty. Dev., 33 F.3d 323, 328 (4th Cir. 1994).

“Once it is

determined, however, that a rule is not inconsistent with the
statute or regulation, deference is accorded, and a court may
not substitute its own interpretation for the agency’s if the
agency’s interpretation is reasonable.”

Id.

On appeal, Daniels first argues that HAPGC failed to
conduct a timely inspection of her residence, in violation of
HUD regulations and the Administrative Plan.
court

held,

regulations

however,
provide

neither

42

time

limit

a

U.S.C.A.
within

As the district
§ 1437f
which

a

nor

HUD

housing

authority must conduct the required inspection, though they do
require that the participant’s home pass the inspection prior to
issuance

of

a

Section

8

subsidy.
4

24

C.F.R.

§ 982.628(a)(4)

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(2013).

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Daniel began receiving payments once the inspection

requirement

was

satisfied.

Accordingly,

we

conclude

that

Daniels’ challenge to the timeliness of the inspection lacks
merit, as does her claim for $77,000 in damages that she asserts
were caused by the delayed inspection.
Daniels argues that HAPGC failed to timely exclude the
income of her son from the calculation of her subsidy after he
moved

out

of

residence. 3

the

Section

7-II.D.

of

the

Administrative Plan provides in relevant part:
If an adult family member who was formerly a member of
the household is reported to be permanently absent,
the family must provide evidence to support that the
person is no longer a member of the family (e.g.,
documentation of another address at which the person
resides such as a lease or utility bill).
Thus, as the district court determined, HAPGC acted reasonably
in requiring a specific type of proof of change in residence.
Moreover,

Daniels’

assertion

that

HAPGC

did

not

adjust

her

monthly subsidy for over a year is belied by the record.
Daniels next asserts that in June 2013, she requested
a

hearing

with

HAPGC

to

discuss

her

housing

subsidy.

She

contends that the district court erred in failing to schedule a
3

Daniels contends that her son’s status as a full-time
student precluded the inclusion of his income in the subsidy
calculation.
As this issue was not raised before the district
court, however, we decline to consider it in the first instance.
See United States v. Edwards, 666 F.3d 877, 887 (4th Cir. 2011);
Muth v. United States, 1 F.3d 246, 250 (4th Cir. 1993).

5

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hearing and requests that this Court sanction HAPGC.

Because

Daniels’ request for a hearing occurred after the district court
issued its order and judgment on April 17, 2013, this claim was
not

properly

before

the

district

court,

and

we

decline

to

consider it on appeal.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district
court. 4
legal
before

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and
contentions
this

Court

are

adequately

and

argument

presented

would

not

in
aid

the
the

materials
decisional

process.
AFFIRMED

4

Daniels also asserts that her counsel was ineffective in
representing her. However, a litigant in a civil action has no
constitutional or statutory right to the effective assistance of
counsel. Taylor v. Dickel, 293 F.3d 427, 431 (8th Cir. 2002).

6