Basco v. Machin

The Section 8 program was a federal program that provided financial assistance to low-income individuals so that they could rent housing from private landlords. Individuals who were approved for assistance received Section 8 vouchers from local housing authorities. Teresa Basco (plaintiff) received a Section 8 voucher from the Health and Social Services Department of Hillsborough County (the housing authority) (defendant). Basco rented a house and stated in the lease that her husband and children would be living with her. The housing authority had a regulation prohibiting Section 8 voucher holders from having unauthorized residents in their homes. An unauthorized resident was a person not listed on the lease who resided in the home for 15 consecutive days or for 30 days in a 12-month period. The housing authority obtained a copy of a police report in which Basco’s husband stated to the police that a man named Emanuel Jones had been living at the Basco residence. Jones’s name was not listed on the lease. The statement made by Basco’s husband did not indicate the length of Jones’s stay at the Basco residence. Nonetheless, the housing authority determined that Jones was an unauthorized resident and thus terminated Basco’s Section 8 voucher. Subsequently, Basco brought suit, contending that the housing authority erred in terminating her Section 8 voucher. The district court ruled in favor of the housing authority. Basco appealed.