OHA stopped evictions to fight a lawsuit. It’s making Omaha’s public housing unsafe, staff says

In a flurry of Friday morning emails, property managers Kisha Mallory and Kahla Stanley pleaded with their boss to evict two tenants who had caused “ongoing disturbances” at Omaha’s Park Towers. 

The day before, a tenant allegedly threatened an employee who had confronted her about a bag of trash left in the elevator. She then allegedly threw a pot of grease at a visitor before police arrived. She hadn’t paid rent in more than nine months, the managers reported. 

Another resident became hostile toward Mallory and a fire safety contractor as they inspected a disabled alarm in her apartment. The tenant “became so aggressive that (the contractor) believed she might physically strike me,” Mallory said in the Dec. 5 email. As Mallory departed the building, the tenant allegedly told her to “watch her back.”

Sarah Nothhorn, their boss at the Omaha Housing Authority, swiftly responded to Mallory with a clear message: No evictions. 

“Unfortunately, as you have been informed, we are currently in court regarding (LB 840) and are not able to proceed with any evictions at this time,” Nothhorn said in an email. “I understand this situation is frustrating for everyone. I hear it all day, every day!!!” 

Omaha’s public housing authority has not filed to evict a single tenant since June, when it sued the state over a new law requiring the agency to pay for its tenants’ court-appointed lawyers in eviction cases. 

OHA’s lawyer said in court that halting evictions has caused harm to staff, but argued the state law is unconstitutional and would force the agency to misuse federal funds. 

OHA leaders say the agency must hold off on evictions until the lawsuit plays out.

“The current pause on evictions is not a policy choice — it is the result of conflicting legal mandates imposed by state and federal law,” said OHA CEO Joanie Balk in a statement. “OHA cannot ignore federal funding restrictions or risk losing critical housing assistance for thousands of families.”

Four current OHA employees told the Flatwater Free Press they felt unsafe working at public housing properties and said the agency should resume evictions against tenants who act violently or criminally. Without repercussions for bad actors, they said, staff and residents are increasingly vulnerable to abuse. The employees talked to Flatwater on the condition they not be named because they said they fear for their jobs.

Emails obtained by the Flatwater Free Press through a public records request show several examples in December where OHA employees appear to be in danger.

The same day as the Park North incidents, resident Maxwell Lierly shoved an OHA maintenance worker outside of Highland Tower, denting the frame of his glasses, according to a police report. 

When police arrived, Lierly ignored orders about reaching into his pockets, where officers later found an open pocket knife, according to the report. The officers fired a Taser at and arrested Lierly, who spent a night in jail and later pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. 

OHA took no legal action to boot him despite clear lease violations. Nearly two months later, when reached by phone, Lierly told a Flatwater reporter he still lives at Highland Tower. 

Legal limbo, growing grievances

For more than a year after LB 840 passed, OHA stared down the day from which the agency would be obligated to pay for its tenants’ lawyers in eviction court. 

As July 1 loomed, OHA filed to evict tenants at a blistering pace, initiating nearly 100 cases in June. Flatwater previously reported that the agency filed more than 400 cases in all of 2023, a six-year high at the time.

Then, OHA sued the state. Its eviction filings screeched to a hard stop. 

The housing authority argued that the new law unfairly targets OHA. The agency estimated it would cost nearly $1 million a year to pay for residents’ court-appointed lawyers, adding that its “only funding source,” the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, wouldn’t allow OHA to use federal money for that purpose. 

“OHA will bring evictions. It wants to bring evictions, but it’s in jeopardy of doing so due to this law,” said Damien Wright, the agency’s attorney, during a January hearing.

HUD did not respond to requests for comment.

State Sen. Terrell McKinney, a Democrat from Omaha who sponsored LB 840, said the law doesn’t prevent OHA from filing evictions and dismissed the agency’s lawsuit as an attempt to shirk its legal responsibilities. 

“If they cared about the safety of residents, they would do what they had to do,” McKinney said. 

Balk said in a statement that OHA representatives informed McKinney, prior to the legislation taking effect, that it conflicted with federal law and could result in safety concerns. 

“LB 840 actually hurts, not helps, public housing residents” who already have access to free lawyers in court, the statement said.

OHA’s contention that it can’t pay for tenants’ lawyers because all of its funding comes from HUD “rings a little hollow,” said Rachel Tomlinson Dick, director of the University of Nebraska’s Housing Justice Clinic.

HUD is OHA’s largest source of funding, accounting for more than three-quarters of projected revenue, but the agency also relies on tenant rents, investment income and other government grants, according to its 2026 budget. 

Tomlinson Dick said she was “very suspicious” of OHA’s $1 million estimated cost of complying with LB 840. OHA’s 2024-25 contract with law firm Spencer Fane to pursue evictions against tenants was worth a maximum of $100,000. 

After months of technical hang-ups, OHA was forced to refile the lawsuit in November. Last month, a judge allowed that complaint to go forward. All the while, OHA continued its evictionless streak. 

It’s unusual that OHA self-imposed an eviction moratorium but never asked a judge to temporarily suspend the law if it saw an urgent need to boot dangerous tenants, said Danielle Jefferis, a professor at the University of Nebraska College of Law. 

Said Tomlinson Dick: “It kind of feels like they are holding their tenants and some staff members hostage in a way to demonstrate the harm when there are steps they could be taking to mitigate that harm … That seems really irresponsible.”

OHA did not respond to a question about why it did not pursue an injunction to prevent the law from taking effect.

A week after OHA filed the lawsuit, the agency dissolved its in-house public safety department and expanded its contract with private contractor Signal of Omaha for building security. 

In interviews, OHA employees and residents criticized the move and lamented Signal’s inability to resolve conflicts without calling the police. 

“If you call, all they say is, ‘Well, we’re not able to do anything about that,” said Evans Tower resident Kim Alger. “They’re absolutely worthless.”

OHA said the contractor has made meaningful improvements by providing 24/7 real-time responses, consistently patrolling properties and deploying security cameras. 

Signal did not respond to requests for comment. 

‘No legal recourse’

Emails obtained by Flatwater also showed employees informing upper management about an array of potential crimes.

Jackson Tower manager Cydney Robinson sent Nothhorn, OHA’s property management director, a list of tenants posing security risks that included six alleged drug dealers, three people allegedly engaged in sex work and one unit with a “suspected meth lab.”

“Given the seriousness of these issues, we need to coordinate a response with Signal, OPD, and any other partners who can assist, since we currently have no legal recourse that we are choosing to exercise,” Robinson wrote in the Dec. 11 email. 

Zone manager Sabrina Crawford wrote to Signal and Nothhorn in October about a Benson Tower resident with several recent incidents involving police who lunged at another resident and “stated she would kill him.”

“At this point it is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ someone is physically hurt,” Crawford wrote.

 OHA attorney Brian Hansen passed along employees’ concerns to a HUD official in a December email, noting that staff have told him they’re “seeing an increase in criminal activity … including threats and assaults on staff and tenants” because of OHA’s inability to evict. 

In reply to Hansen, HUD attorney Bion Vance said he understood, “especially given OHA’s unique situation and circumstances here with the state law.” 

Former OHA maintenance manager Joe Schaecher said OHA put itself in a bad position since the agency knew LB 840 was coming for more than a year and neglected to act before filing its lawsuit.

Schaecher, who hasn’t worked for OHA since early 2025, said a previous eviction halt during the pandemic suggested that removing consequences for tenants would lead to more maintenance problems and a spike in crime.

If OHA continues to hold back on evictions, the agency will struggle to pass inspections and reputable employees will quit, Schaecher said.

“You’ll lose all the staff. Who would want to work there?” Schaecher said. 

OHA has long struggled with high staff turnover. About 37% of staff turned over in the last year, though that rate has declined since 2024, according to staffing reports.

Alger, the Evans Tower resident, said she doesn’t worry much about her own safety but thinks some tenants with disabilities could get seriously hurt if OHA refrains from evicting long term. 

“There are just so many residents that are not physically able to defend themselves,” Alger said.

The maintenance worker assaulted by Lierly at Highland Tower was unharmed but a bit shaken up, property manager Stanley told Nothhorn and OHA Chief Operating Officer Shannon Mahnke in a December email. 

Mahnke replied, asking if the maintenance worker would like to go to counseling or to be transferred to another property. 

“I am trying to brainstorm and figure out what else we can be doing around safety with our current barriers for evictions,” she said.