Aside from facing legal action from the McKinney Housing Authority, Providence Village has also been charged with discrimination following a years-long investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
A recently-filed federal lawsuit claims that a homeowners association in the Dallas area discriminated against African-American residents by calling them names, threatening their lives, and circulating racially-charged memes.
According to The Dallas Morning News, the lawsuit was filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. In the lawsuit, current and former residents of Providence Village in Denton County, Texas, say that their HOA tried to remove tenants who receive government assistance to pay rent. This decision, court filings say, had a disproportionate impact on the community’s black residents.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit all claim to have suffered some degree of indignity, injury, or damages. Seven say that they experienced episodes of emotional distress and financial difficulty as a result of discrimination. Some moved away, while others who stayed in the community were purportedly subjected to hostility and harassment.
“It’s terrifying when your neighborhood decides they are going to force you out of your home,” said Laura Beshara, a Dallas-based attorney representing the plaintiffs. “That’s what happened here.”
The Dallas Morning News notes that the residents’ lawsuit wasn’t filed without any context. Aside from facing legal action from the McKinney Housing Authority, Providence Village has also been charged with discrimination following a years-long investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The lawsuit recounts how tension started to mount in the community in 2021, shortly after two teenagers—one black, and the other white—got into a fight. At the time of the altercation, only about 4% of Providence Village households paid rent with federal housing vouchers; of these, more than 90% were African-American.
Over the course of the next several months, some HOA members drafted an amendment to ban all residents who pay rent with government subsidies. If approved, the rule would have also threatened $300 per week fines against noncompliant landlords.
As the homeowners association began taking action against the community’s black residents, some tenants took to social media to complain about housing voucher recipients.
“Hide Your kids cause Section 8 is on the loose!!!” one resident wrote. Another said, “Back in the day, when a community didn’t like someone they banned together to make said persons life a living hell to the point they left.”
In May 2022, the proposed amendment secured enough votes for approval, prompting at least 19 households to move elsewhere.
“The lengths this neighborhood went to remove federal voucher recipients is very disturbing,” Beshara said. “It’s shocking.”
Sources
North Texas HOA tried to kick out Black residents. Some are now suing for discrimination
Providence Village HOA charged with discrimination for trying to kick out low-income renters
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