BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor

Earlier this week, a U. S. District judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Tampa Housing Authority. Several former residents of the Tampa Housing Authority filed the lawsuit in November 2011.

In a written order, Judge James D. Whittemore cited several reasons for dismissing the lawsuit. “Even a cursory review of the Complaint reveals that it is replete with numerous technical and substantive deficiencies warranting dismissal.”

The lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice. The ruling gives the plaintiffs 20 days to file an amended complaint.

The lawsuit named the Tampa Housing Authority, its CEO/President, Jerome Ryans, City of Tampa and Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It was filed in the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, on Friday, November 4, 2011.

The civil suit, filed through the Law Office Of Kaydell Wright-Douglas, Esquire, stated that residents in four former housing complexes, Central Park Village, Ponce de Leon, College Hill Homes, and Riverview Terrace did not receive their utility allowances as stipulated by HUD. The suit covers a period from 1999 to 2007.

Plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit were Annie Bright, Patricia Brown, Brenda L. Catuy, Maryse Codeio, Bernestine Cotton, Doniquisha Donaldson, Carol A. Harley, Hannah Williams-Johnson, Ruby Scott, Mattie Shine, Ruby Williams, and Wanda L. Anderson-Gilchrist.

They represent a class of 1,892 tenants and their families. The plaintiffs were seeking $65,000 in financial damages, costs of attorneys’ fees and utility reimbursement.

The civil lawsuit was filed through the law office of Kaydell Wright-Douglas, Esquire.