United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED June 29, 2022 No. 21-20317 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk

Daija Jackson; Sharobin White; Latoya Idlebird; Dinah Clark; Janey Williams; Lawanda Douglas; Amanda Williams; Shirley Andrews; Misty Joseph,

Plaintiffs—Appellants,

versus

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development,

Defendant—Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 4:18-CV-2468

Before Southwick, Haynes, and Higginson, Circuit Judges. Stephen A. Higginson, Circuit Judge: Plaintiffs-Appellants (“Plaintiffs”) were tenants at Arbor Court, a Houston apartment complex that received subsidies from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”). After flooding that occurred during Hurricane Harvey, Arbor Court’s owner failed to maintain the property in decent, safe, and sanitary condition. Accordingly, HUD approved a transfer of the complex’s subsidy to a different property, Case: 21-20317 Document: 00516376074 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/29/2022

No. 21-20317

offering Arbor Court tenants a choice between moving at no cost to the new property or receiving housing vouchers that they could use at new housing of their choice. After choosing the latter option, Plaintiffs sued HUD, seeking relocation assistance under the Uniform Relocation Act (“URA”). The district court dismissed the complaint. We AFFIRM. I. Plaintiffs were tenants at Arbor Court, an apartment complex in Houston, Texas. Arbor Court participated in HUD’s Project-Based Rental Assistance (“PBRA”) program, a form of housing assistance in which “rental assistance is paid for families who live in specific housing developments or units.” 24 C.F.R. § 982.1(b)(1); see also 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(f)(6). 1 In 2017, Arbor Court experienced severe flood damage during Hurricane Harvey. Arbor Court’s owner, DM Arbor Court LTD (the “Owner”), subsequently failed to maintain the property in decent, safe, and sanitary condition. HUD eventually informed the Owner that it had defaulted on its HUD Housing Assistance Payments (“HAP”) contract, and in response the Owner requested a so-called “Section 8(bb) subsidy transfer,” asking HUD to transfer Arbor Court’s PBRA funding to another property, Cullen Park Apartments, under the terms of 42 U.S.C.

1 Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (“Section 8”) authorizes HUD to pay this assistance. See 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(a) (“For the purpose of aiding low- income families in obtaining a decent place to live and of promoting economically mixed housing, assistance payments may be made with respect to existing housing in accordance with the provisions of this section.”). The present form of Section 8 originates in the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, which amended the Housing Act of 1937. See Pub. L. No. 93-383, sec. 201(a), § 8, 88 Stat. 633, 662-66. Section 8 programs can take the form of “project-based assistance,” which is tied to particular housi