CAUSE OF ACTION INSTITUTE v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT and 4 other new FOIA lawsuits

We have added 22 documents from 5 FOIA cases filed between July 10, 2016 and July 16, 2016. Note that there can be delays between the date a case is filed and when it shows up on PACER. If there are filings from this period that have yet to be posted on PACER, this FOIA Project list may not be complete.

Click on a case title below to view details for that case, including links to the associated docket and complaint documents.

1. CAUSE OF ACTION INSTITUTE v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (filed Jul 13, 2016)
   Cause of Action submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for records concerning communications with third parties involved in three agreements in which the settling banks were allowed to decide what organizations received funds for remediation purposes as the result of the settlement. These funds were given to HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agencies and to NeighborWorks America, a congressionally-chartered non-profit organization. The agency acknowledged receipt of the request, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, Cause of Action filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees, Litigation – Vaughn index
2. REYNOLDS v. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (filed Jul 11, 2016)
   Reynolds, a federal prisoner, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice for records concerning the search of his home. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Reynolds filed suit.
   Issues: Adequacy – Search
3. Bernie Owens v. Department of Veterans Affairs (filed Jul 13, 2016)
   Bernie Owens submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Veterans Affairs for records concerning a 2006 hearing in which a hearing officer decided to pursue a claim that the department had overpaid Owens by $63,000. After hearing nothing further from the agency, Owens filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit, Litigation – Attorney’s fees
4. KNOWLES v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE (filed Jul 14, 2016)
   Samuel Knowles, a federal prisoner, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of State for records concerning communications between the Bahamas and the Drug Enforcement Administration pertaining to Knowles’ transport to the U.S. The agency withheld records under Exemption 1 (national security) and Exemption 7 (law enforcement records). Knowles filed an appeal, but after hearing nothing further from the agency, he filed suit.
   Issues: Failure to respond within statutory time limit
5. LIGTT Regional Center, LLC v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services et al (filed Jul 15, 2016)
   LIGTT Regional Center, a USCIS-designated EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center to solicit foreign investors to invest in U.S. businesses, filed a reverse-FOIA suit against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services after the agency told LIGTT that it planned to disclose records LIGTT submitted as part of its petition to become an investment center in response to a FOIA request. LIGTT objected to disclosure of its Private Confidential Placement Memo. LIGTT argued that a statutory provision prohibited the agency from disclosing the records under Exemption 3 (other statutes) and that the records were protected under Exemption 4 (confidential business information) as well.
   Issues: Litigation – Reverse-FOIA – Confidential business information