## Facts

- The federal Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program provided rental assistance to low-income participants through vouchers administered by local housing agencies.
- Robert Garcia was a Section 8 voucher holder and had schizoaffective disorder.
- Garcia required ongoing care and supervision, which was provided by his brother.
- Garcia and his brother lived in a house owned by the brother.
- Garcia used his Section 8 voucher assistance to pay rent to his brother as the landlord.
- A program rule prohibited Section 8 assistance payments to certain family members of the voucher holder, and the Washington County Department of Housing Services (the agency administering the program) concluded Garcia’s arrangement violated that rule.
- The Department terminated Garcia’s voucher based on the family-member-landlord prohibition.
- Garcia requested a disability-related reasonable accommodation asking the Department to allow him to use his voucher to pay rent to his brother so he could remain housed while receiving necessary care.
- The Department denied the accommodation request.
- Garcia sued, alleging the Department violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by refusing a reasonable accommodation, and the Department moved to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6).

## Issues

1. Whether a Section 8 participant with a disability states a plausible FHA reasonable-accommodation claim by alleging that a public housing agency refused to waive a family-member-landlord rule that prevented him from remaining in housing where he received necessary caregiving.
2. Whether the existence of the Section 8 family-member payment prohibition required dismissal as a matter of law at the pleading stage.

## Decision

- The court denied the Department’s motion to dismiss.
- The court held that Garcia’s allegations were sufficient at the pleading stage to state a claim that the Department’s refusal to make an exception to the rule could violate the FHA’s reasonable-accommodation requirement.
- The court declined to decide, on a motion to dismiss, whether the requested exception was ultimately reasonable or whether program rules barred any accommodation.

## Legal Principles

- The FHA prohibits disability discrimination in housing, including the refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services when such accommodations may be necessary to afford a person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B).
- A plaintiff states an FHA reasonable-accommodation claim by alleging: (1) a disability within the FHA; (2) a request for an accommodation; (3) that the accommodation may be necessary to provide an equal housing opportunity; and (4) denial of the request.
- A facially neutral housing or program rule does not bar FHA liability; the FHA may require an exception when the plaintiff plausibly alleges a disability-linked need.
- On a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the court accepts well-pleaded factual allegations as true and does not resolve factual disputes about necessity, reasonableness, or program administration where those questions depend on a fuller record.

## Conclusion

Garcia v. Washington County Department of Housing Services allowed an FHA reasonable-accommodation claim to proceed where a disabled Section 8 participant alleged that he needed to remain in his brother’s home to receive essential care, that the voucher payments were necessary for that housing arrangement to continue, and that the housing agency refused to consider an exception to the family-member-landlord payment rule.


Garcia v. Washington County Department of Housing Services, 2006 WL 897984 (2006)