The United Nations has twice told the United States and Nooksack Tribe to halt the evictions of seven Nooksack families from their federal rent-to-own homes.
The state of Washington has filed 85 notices of violation against Nooksack, pending with the IRS, for the Tribe's violation of federal and state tenant ownership rules.
Washington's Auditor is conducting a $500,000 audit of the state's federal low income housing tenant ownership program after a state agency admitted its "compliance monitoring practices unfortunately did not hold [Nooksack] accountable."
Notwithstanding, seven low income Nooksack families most likely face threats of physical eviction, by armed Tribal police, from their federal rent-to-own homes in coming weeks.
The families, which include senile elders, wheelchair-bound relatives, and young children, are owed deeds to those homes after more than 15 years of good tenancy under the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program administered by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC) and Nooksack Tribe.
But those homes are being taken, without just compensation or due process of law, especially because Tribal politicians have "barred" us at Galanda Broadman from representing them at Nooksack.
"They have barred our lawyers. They have rewritten all the rules. They have ignored all applicable laws. They have snubbed their nose at the UN," said Michelle Roberts, spokesperson for the families and head of the household for one of the families threatened with eviction. "There is simply no justice or dignity at Nooksack."
On Tuesday, Nooksack Court of Appeals Chief Judge Rajeev Majumdar summarily dismissed a set of pro se appeals filed by the families "for want of action," despite the families' May 2nd request for a stay pending the IRS proceedings.
The families appealed a Nooksack pro tem judge's set of unlawful detainer decisions last spring. Despite Tribal law requiring those appeals to have been heard within 45 days, the appeals commenced nearly a year later, this spring, only to be dismissed out of hand by the single appellate judge.
The matters have been "returned to the jurisdiction" of the Nooksack trial court, where eviction writs are expected to be issued soon.
The dismissal Tuesday occurred while we, the families' longtime lawyers, pursued our own due process rights before the Tribal appeals court, after once again having papers "REJECTED" by the Tribal Court Clerk in violation of Nooksack law.
Yesterday, pro se litigant Roberts implored Judge Majumdar to reconsider his decision, explaining:
[T]his happened while our lawyers’ appeal is pending so that they can be allowed to represent us. My family does not understand what all of these tribal court papers mean. My dad and Auntie Ollie are both senile. We cannot be expected to bring our appeals on very complicated legal federal housing issues "pro se" and without any help from lawyers. All of this goes to show why we need help from our lawyers. Any tribal people would need legal help in such a complicated legal case.
The Nooksack judicial system has been considered illegitimate since Nooksack politicians overthrew it eight years ago.
In late 2016, a group of federal Indian law professors from throughout the country wrote the Nooksack appeals court: "[T]he ripple effect of [the Tribe's] lawlessness will reach far beyond the boundaries of Nooksack...The suspicions and denigrations of tribal courts as second-class forums will gain credence among those that are hostile to tribal sovereignty.” In 2018, the Washington State Bar Association proclaimed "the Nooksack ‘’justice system’ is probably not worthy of that description."
The United States has rebuffed the United Nations’ unprecedented interventions, in both 2022 and 2023. Each time the U.S. State Department blithely cited “tribal sovereignty” to justify federal inaction when confronted with the United Nations’ findings of “violation of international human rights law” at Nooksack.
Meanwhile, WSHFC has admitted: "Through the Nooksack disenrollment issue, we realized that eventual tenant homeownership plans had not been integrated into our monitoring practices....the IRS has stated that it will not take action in response to a notice of noncompliance" in these circumstances. It remains to be seen whether the IRS will take action on the 85 notices of violation.
In March, WSHFC’s regulatory gaffe caused the Washington Legislature to appropriate $500,000 for the state Auditor to audit the “commission's oversight of housing developers that offer a rent-to-own option for projects funded by the commission, including “how rent-to-own policies have affected affordable housing and home ownership options for eligible tenants.” The audit is slated for completion by the end of the year.
Last year, Governor Jay Inslee asked Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Bob Ferguson to review the Nooksack families’ property rights in their LIHTC homes, and consider whether Nooksack was violating state law by taking those homes. Ferguson declined, because the review “would clearly impact the Nooksack Tribe [and] there is no realistic chance that the Nooksack Tribe would consent” to it.
"This country, the entire system of American government, has turned its back on these families," said Gabe Galanda, lead counsel for the families. "Indigenous human rights protection is of no concern or consequence to the United States."
Related News: "Converge Media Releases Nooksack 306, a New Film Spotlighting the Eviction and Exile of Over 300 Nooksack Tribal Members" (May 29, 2024)
