Job Description:

The Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County (“HOC”) is one of the nation’s preeminent affordable housing finance agencies at the forefront of financing, developing, and preserving affordable housing.  HOC is seeking an attorney specializing in litigation and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (“Section 504”), the Fair Housing Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and all other applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

The Associate General Counsel will oversee and manage the agency’s reasonable accommodation/modification requests (internal employee and tenant/customer requests). This will include all aspects of the reasonable accommodation decision process, including creating an intake system, overseeing the decision making process, engaging in the interactive process with requesters, reviewing final decisions, and ensuring timely responses. Currently, HOC’s Compliance Division manages all tenant/customer reasonable accommodation requests. Initially, this position will work with the Compliance Division to transition these duties to HOC’s Legal Department. It is anticipated that additional staff will be added to the Legal Department to assist in these duties, and such staff report directly to the Associate General Counsel.

The Associate General Counsel will also handle litigation matters and work with outside counsel and the agency’s insurance providers to seek resolutions on matters of dispute. This will include working with outside counsel to represent HOC in landlord-tenant matters, and working with staff and counsel to address employment matters. The position will directly represent HOC on issues and complaints from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR), and represent HOC in informal hearings stemming from the Housing Choice Voucher Program, reasonable accommodation denials, and other grievance procedures.

Preferred Skills:

• Graduation from an accredited college or university, a J.D. degree from an accredited law school, and admission to and good standing with the Maryland bar or a bar of another state. The candidate must comply with MD Code, Section 10-206(d), Business Occupations and Professions. The candidate may be required to gain admittance to the Maryland bar in the future. Current admission to the Maryland bar is a strong preference.
• Four (4) years or more experience as an attorney with experience in affordable housing, including familiarity with reasonable accommodations/modification, the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other federal, state, and local policies and procedures.
• Experience with litigation, landlord-tenant law, government relations, administrative law, and employment law. Experience with labor relations and unions is preferred.
• Prior experience in a law firm and/or as an in-house attorney is preferred.
• Familiarity with federal laws and regulations with respect to fair housing, the Housing Choice Voucher Program, and local government practices.
• Understanding of Articles 12 and 16 of the Housing & Community Development Article as it applies to the Commission in order to apply the powers and functions of the agency.
• Ability to represent the Commission in litigation, administrative, and other public hearings.
• Ability to provide advice to staff on legal matters relating to the agency’s operations and programs; interpret laws, regulations, and Court decisions; and be able to prepare advisory opinions on these matters.
• Strong analytic, organizational, writing, negotiation and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently when required, but also an ability to work well within a team dynamic team and communicate well with the General Counsel.
• A positive attitude, willingness to work hard, diligence and thoroughness.
• Ability to work under pressure and perform efficiently with time-sensitive matters.
• Flexibility and an ability to learn quickly in a dynamic environment.
• Ability to coordinate and manage a small team of staff.