Chateau Foghorn LP v. Wesley Hosford

Section 1437f(d)(1)(B)(iii) of Title 42 of the United States Code provides that leases for HUD-assisted project-based housing must contain a clause stating “any drug-related criminal activity on or near such premises, engaged in by a tenant of any unit, any member of the tenant's household, or any guest or other person under the tenant's control, shall be cause for termination of tenancy.” In Dep’t of Hous. & Urban Dev. v. Rucker, 535 U.S. 125, 122 S. Ct. 1230 (2002), this Court interpreted the authority conferred by the anticrime provision in 42 U.S.C. § 1437d—all but identical to 42 U.S.C. § 1437f, applicable here—that governs leases for HUDassisted public housing. This Court affirmed, in stark terms, the federal government’s authority to prevent crime in HUD-assisted housing by permitting housing providers to evict tenants when they, or persons they have allow access to their units, commit drugrelated crimes. The question presented is whether 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(d)(1)(B)(iii) and its implementing regulations preempt statutory elements of Maryland law that authorize a judge or jury to supersede a landlord’s federally-authorized discretion to evict a HUDassisted project-based housing tenant who has engaged in drug-related criminal activity on or near the housing project.