Judge dismisses Section 8 landlords' case vs. PHA

A federal judge Thursday threw out a case filed by a group of Section 8 landlords against the Philadelphia Housing Authority and senior staffers, including former Executive Director Carl R. Greene.

In a complaint last November, the landlords alleged that PHA forced them to take a $200 training course and then channeled the funds into an illegal lobbying fund.

In a decision Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter shot down all of the landlords' arguments, including that their civil rights had been violated.

In addition to Greene, the defendants included three suspended PHA staffers - Diane Rosenthal, Linda Staley, and Carolyn Carter - and former managers Kirk Dorn and Michael Leithead.

Also targeted were two PHA nonprofits - the Pennsylvania Institute of Affordable Housing Professionals and PHA-Tenant Support Services - as well as the head of the tenant group, Asia Coney.

PHA administers federal funds for the Housing Choice Voucher/Section 8 rent subsidy program. The eight plaintiffs had to attend Section 8 training, even though the federal housing agency did not require it.

"While defendants' purportedly deceptive conduct may have constituted some kind of fraud or misrepresentation," Buckwalter said, "plaintiffs have made no such claim, and it is not the court's role to instruct plaintiffs on which causes of actions would properly redress their alleged harms."

Contact staff writer Jennifer Lin at 215-854-5659 or jlin@phillynews.com.