Ushud
Crow Tribal Housing Authority v. U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development
Opinion
Opinion
Christen, J.
This case arises from a dispute involving Indian housing block grants made under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (“NA-HASDA”), 25 U.S.C. §§ 4101-4243 . Since 1998, Crow Tribal Housing Authority (“Crow Housing” or “the Tribe”), located in Montana, has received NAHASDA grant payments from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”). In 2001, HUD realized that it had overpaid Crow Housing and sought to recover the overage through deductions from future grants. HUD did not provide Crow Housing with a hearing at which these deductions could be contested, and this appeal concerns whether that was improper. The district court held that HUD acted under 25 U.S.C. § 4161 and § 4165, and that it violated the Tribe’s right to notice and a hearing. This appeal followed.
Because the record establishes that HUD’s actions triggered 25 U.S.C. § 4165 but did not violate that section’s hearing requirement, we reverse the district court’s judgment.
BACKGROUND
I. Statutory and Regulatory Framework
NAHASDA was enacted primarily to “provid[e] affordable homes in safe and healthy environments” for members of Indian tribes, in a way that…