North Texas HOA, National Property Manager Hit With Discrimination Suit For Blocking Section 8 Renters

A homeowners association in a small Dallas suburb and the nation's largest residential community management company are facing lawsuits over alleged racial discrimination for refusing to accept Section 8 vouchers.

Florida-based FirstService Residential and a homeowners association it manages are being sued after enacting rules that effectively prevented Black renters from using government assistance at its Providence Village community, The Dallas Morning News reported.

After a lengthy investigation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sent a discrimination case against the HOA to the Justice Department earlier this year.

But the agency withdrew the case a month later without providing any reason for the change. Memos circulated at the DOJ after President Donald Trump returned to office ordering a freeze on civil rights cases and investigations, The New York Times reported. 

With the investigation in limbo and the possibility that the HOA could face no penalties, a group of residents filed suit in the Eastern District of Texas. The McKinney Housing Authority followed with a federal discrimination lawsuit of its own against FirstService and the HOA last month. 

Each suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.

In a written statement provided to Bisnow, FirstService Residential said it “denies the allegations and remains committed to operating with fairness, integrity, and compliance with the law.”

Providence HOA did not immediately respond to Bisnow’s requests for comment. 

Executive Director Roslyn Miller said the McKinney Housing Authority elected to file suit after learning DOJ wouldn't pursue its case.

“MHA will continue to fight against discrimination and looks forward to litigating this case to show that the Fair Housing Act has been violated,” Miller said via email.

Laura Beshara, a Dallas attorney representing the residents, did not respond to Bisnow's request for comment before publication time. However, Beshara called the HOA’s actions “shocking” in an interview with the DMN. 

“The lengths this neighborhood went to remove federal voucher recipients is very disturbing,” Beshara said. 

Providence Village is a 9,000-resident town located just north of U.S. Highway 380 between Prosper and Denton. Black renters account for around 93% of those receiving Section 8 vouchers in Providence Village.

Following the passage of a 2023 state law banning HOA restrictions on those receiving housing vouchers, the Providence Village HOA amended its written policy.

But HUD alleged the changed rule still limited Section 8 renters from living in the community. The HOA restricted property owners to one rental per owner and limited the percentage of all units that could be rented, effectively barring voucher holders, who typically rent from large landlords that own multiple properties.

After a Bloomberg investigation into the accusations in 2023, the Providence HOA board told the outlet no Section 8 tenants were evicted due to its original rule, which was an “effort to combat the unprecedented uptick in egregious crimes in our community committed by Section 8 tenants.”