The Hearing Process

• The Hearing Process

To ensure fairness, CHA has an informal hearing procedure and a formal hearing procedure for you to dispute certain decisions about your rental assistance benefits.

You may request an informal hearing to consider whether a CHA decision about your circumstances was made in accordance with the law, HUD regulation, and CHA policies.

An informal hearing may be requested for the following types of CHA decisions:

• Determination of the household’s annual or adjusted income, and the use of such income to compute the housing assistance payment
• Determination of the appropriate utility allowance (if any) for the tenant-paid utilities from CHA’s utility allowance schedule
• Determination of the family’s unit size under CHA’s Subsidy Standards
• Determination that a participant is residing in a unit with a larger number of bedrooms than appropriate for the household size under CHA’s Subsidy Standards, or a determination to deny the participant’s request for an exception from the standards
• Determination to terminate assistance to a participant because of a participant’s action or failure to act
• Determination to terminate assistance because the participant has been absent from the assisted unit for longer than the maximum period permitted under CHA policy and HUD rules

CHA is NOT required to provide an opportunity for an informal hearing in the following instances:

• Discretionary administrative determinations by CHA
• General policy issues or class grievances
• Establishment of CHA’s schedule of utility allowances for participants in the program
• Determination not to approve an extension or suspension of a voucher
• Determination not to approve a rental unit or lease
• Determination that an assisted rental unit is not in compliance with Housing Quality Standards (however, if CHA decides to terminate assistance for a breach of Housing Quality Standards caused by the participant, the opportunity for an informal hearing must be provided)
• Determination that a rental unit is not in compliance with Housing Quality Standards because of household size

Notifications and Procedures

If CHA makes a decision regarding your rental assistance that qualifies for an informal hearing opportunity, CHA will notify you. The notice will include a statement that the explanation and hearing must be requested within a specified time period. The participant must request the informal hearing within this time period.

If the informal hearing is requested within the specified time period, the CHA Administrative Assistant will schedule the time, date, and place that the hearing will take place. A confirmation notice will be sent to the participant. The notice will also include the following information:

• At his/her own expense, the participant may be represented by a lawyer or other representative
• The person conducting the informal hearing may regulate conduct at the meeting according to CHA’s established procedures
• Both CHA and the participant shall be given the opportunity to present evidence, and may question any witnesses, but the rules of evidence for judicial proceedings are not applicable
• The person conducting the review shall issue a written decision stating briefly the reasons for the decision. Factual determinations relating to the individual circumstances of the tenant shall be based on evidence presented at the hearing. A copy of the decision shall be furnished promptly to the participant.

Formal Hearing Process