Presenter: Eileen Yacknin, Neighborhood Legal Services

2020 PLAN Virtual Statewide Conference

The limited availability of suitable Section 8 Voucher housing has often resulted in the demands of Section 8 landlords to exact from needy tenants rent and/or utility payments in excess of what the Section 8 program permits, as a condition to enter into or extend leases with those tenants. Despite the illegality of these payments, desperate tenants often agree to such side deals, thereby paying hundreds, even thousands, more than landlords are entitled. Often, when tenants fail to remit these extra payments, landlords terminate their leases and sue them for eviction and those unpaid sums. The federal False Claims Act, designed to prevent fraud in the receipt of government benefits, has successfully been used to sanction these unlawful landlord practices, with enormous damages and attorney's fees. This workshop will introduce participants to the framework and contours of the Act and to explain how to litigate these cases.