Judge blasts Boston Housing Authority for fighting to make schizophrenic man homeless

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/28/judge-blasts-boston-housing-authority-for-fighting-to-make-schizophrenic-man-homeless/



Judge blasts Boston Housing Authority for fighting to make schizophrenic man homeless
By Tom Boggioni
Friday, March 28, 2014 15:08 EDT

A Boston judge harshly criticized the Boston Housing Authority for appealing a ruling to reinstate a Section 8 housing voucher to a man suffering from schizophrenia who had missed appointments while temporarily incarcerated.

Melvin Furtick, 64, missed two scheduled meetings in 2011 to re-certify his 30-year-old Section 8 housing voucher because he was in jail for threatening his wife, leading the Boston Housing Authority to begin proceedings to revoke the certificate, reports the Salem News.

Section 8 housing vouchers are federally funded subsidies for low-income tenants determined by income and family size, with the balance of what would be considered a “market rate” rent paid for with funds from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“The Boston Housing Authority terminated Furtick’s housing assistance benefits, a protected property interest, in violation of his due process rights,” wrote Justice Frederick Brown. “Such a result cannot be countenanced by any court of law.”