AUGUSTA -- Failing to keep a clean, orderly house should not cost a disabled woman her public housing voucher, the Maine Human Rights Commission concluded Monday.

The commission voted 4-0 to uphold its investigator's finding that the Maine State Housing Authority refused to reasonably accommodate the requests of Ixchel Maybury, of Monmouth, that would allow her to continue living in the Monmouth home she had occupied for more than eight years.

Her attorney, Patricia Ender of Pine Tree Legal Assistance Inc., said Maybury's prior attorney had asked the state agency in April to reinstate the housing voucher, to hold a hearing on the voucher termination, and to allow her landlord to hire a cleaning crew to clean the apartment.

The housing authority denied the hearing request, saying it was untimely. The authority also said it was unable to grant an accommodation of federal regulations or find a way to provide back rental payments to the landlord.

The Section 8 Rental Voucher Program, run by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, is designed to increase affordable housing choices by allowing low-income families to choose private rental housing, according to its Web site. The federal government then pays a portion of the rent.

Maybury, who is diagnosed with a number of mental disorders, suffered from severe depression for six to nine months, which, her psychiatrist said in April, "resulted in her inability to keep up with household chores, inability to keep track of money and bills, and inability to have enough energy to do housework."

Maybury and her three children shared the apartment.

A Maine State Housing Authority examiner, conducting an annual housing inspection on Oct. 25, 2007, found that the home failed inspection because of housekeeping issues, trash in fire exits and throughout the house, and dirty interior stairs and halls.

Maybury was given several time extensions to clean the apartment and her housing voucher was terminated Feb. 23.

"Analysis of the information and documents obtained during the investigation of this complaint revealed that the (Maine State Housing Authority's) refusal to provide reasonable accommodations to Ms. Maybury was unlawful," said Barbara Lelli, chief investigator for the Maine Human Rights Commission, in her report.

Ender said Maybury and her two sons are homeless and have moved among a series of hotels. Maybury's daughter, now 18, is living elsewhere, Ender said.

"When the rent wasn't paid for months, she got evicted," Ender said.

She said the two parties will now engage in conciliation efforts.

"Our mission is to provide people affordable housing," said Dan Simpson, a spokesman for the Maine State Housing Authority. "We've tried to work with this tenant every step of the way to make her tenancy successful. We're pleased the Maine Human Rights Commission directed the conciliation and hope the tenant will work with us to make the tenancy successful."

He said the housing authority twice offered to reinstate Maybury's voucher.

In a separate case, commissioners overturned a recommendation by Lelli and found no reasonable grounds to believe that Rebecca Dickinson, of Jefferson, was denied reasonable accommodation by Woodlands Assisted Living of Hallowell.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com