Isham v. Pierce

694 F.2d 1196
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedDecember 20, 1982
Docket80-4355
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 694 F.2d 1196 (Isham v. Pierce) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Isham v. Pierce, 694 F.2d 1196 (9th Cir. 1982).

Opinion

694 F.2d 1196

Nancy ISHAM, on behalf of Martha Bryant, deceased, and Beth
Strobel, deceased, individually and on behalf of
all other persons similarly situated,
Plaintiffs- Appellants,
v.
Samuel PIERCE,* in his official capacity as
Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and
Urban Development; Henry Dishroom, in his official capacity
as San Francisco Area Manager of the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development; and YWCA
Apartments, Inc., a California non- profit corporation,
Defendants-Appellees.

Nos. 80-4355, 80-4299.

United States Court of Appeals,
Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted Dec. 15, 1982.
Decided Dec. 20, 1982.

Fred M. Feller, San Francisco, Cal., for Isham.

John R. Reese, Seth R. Jaffe, McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, San Francisco, Cal., for YWCA Apts., Inc.

George C. Stoll, U. S. Atty., San Francisco, for Landrieu.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Before SNEED and BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judges, and TAKASUGI,** District Judge.

TAKASUGI, District Judge:

BACKGROUND

This appeal arises from the efforts of a private owner to rehabilitate and convert the YWCA Residence Club ("Residence Club") located in San Francisco, California, into a federally subsidized project for lower-income elderly and handicapped tenants. The Residence Club was located in a building owned and operated by the YWCA of San Francisco, a private non-profit corporation ("YWCA"). In 1977, the YWCA applied to the Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") for financial assistance to enable it to convert the Residence Club into housing for the elderly and handicapped. HUD approved the application on September 20, 1977.

Between February and May of 1979, the Residence Club tenants were notified by the YWCA that they would be required to vacate the premises to allow for the rehabilitation and conversion as proposed. The occupants of the Residence Club relinquished their tenancy, either as a result of notices from the YWCA, or, in some cases, through state court unlawful detainer proceedings initiated by the YWCA. Appellant Beth Strobel vacated the Residence Club in compliance with these notices. Appellant Martha Bryant was ordered to vacate the Residence Club following a court order in an unlawful detainer action brought against her by the YWCA.1 The alleged class of plaintiffs consists of a total of approximately 145 persons who were forced to vacate as a result of the Apartment Conversion Project.2

On July 5, 1979, the YWCA formed YWCA Apartments, Inc. ("Apartments, Inc."), a private non-profit corporation, to act as the entity that would formally manage the housing project. Membership in Apartments, Inc. was limited to members of the board of directors of the YWCA. Upon the dissolution of Apartments, Inc., any remaining assets were to revert back to the YWCA. On November 1, 1979, the YWCA leased the building to Apartments, Inc. for 75 years in order to allow it to develop, manage and operate the new housing project.

The development and construction of the Apartment Conversion Project was to be financed entirely through a direct low interest loan in the amount of $5,593,900 to Apartments, Inc. from HUD pursuant to Section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, 12 U.S.C. Sec. 1701q. In addition, Apartments, Inc. received a grant from the City of San Francisco of HUD Community Development Block Grant ("CDBG") funds in the amount of $642,000.3 All of the apartment units are to be allocated rent subsidy payments from HUD under Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1437f.4 The amount of HUD's annual Section 8 funds reservation for the project is $774,996. Pursuant to regulations promulgated by HUD, Apartments, Inc.'s project must conform with HUD specifications.

An enormous amount of reconstruction was required in order to rehabilitate the Residence Club building and convert approximately 160 sleeping rooms into 98 apartments. It was therefore necessary for the YWCA to vacate the building during the renovation. The Secretary of HUD determined that the existing tenants were not eligible for the benefits provided by the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, 42 U.S.C. Secs. 4601-4655 ("URA"), and, therefore, the appellants' moving expenses were not subject to federal relocation assistance.

After exhausting their administrative remedies, appellants filed this class action on December 21, 1979, in the District Court for the Northern District of California against the Secretary of HUD, Moon Landrieu, the HUD San Francisco manager, Henry Dishroom and Apartments, Inc. Appellants sought a judgment declaring that appellees were obligated to minimize the effects of displacement in accordance with the requirements of HUD regulations governing the Section 202 and Section 8 programs and that appellees were obligated to provide benefits and assistance under the URA. Appellants also sought an order enjoining appellees from proceeding further on the project until appellants were provided with the benefits, assistance and protections to which they were entitled. They further prayed to enjoin HUD from enforcing its regulations purporting to exempt the Apartment Conversion Project from the provisions of the URA.

Apartments, Inc. filed a motion to dismiss the complaint under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 12(b)(6). The district court concluded that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted against Apartments, Inc. because (1) the subject project was owned and operated by a private party and no applicable law provided for relocation assistance or benefits for persons displaced by such projects, and (2) plaintiffs had not, and could not, allege any facts that would give rise to a claim against Apartments, Inc. under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The court also determined that the allegations of other facts consistent with the complaint could not possibly cure the foregoing deficiencies.

The federal defendants filed a motion for summary judgment on all causes of action. Appellants, in opposing the motion for summary judgment, treated the motion as a motion to dismiss. The district court held that appellants were not entitled to benefits under the URA because there was no acquisition within the meaning of the URA and appellants were not entitled to URA benefits because they were not displaced by a government agency. The court also ruled that the Section 202/Section 8 regulations do not provide relocation assistance or protections.

The judgment dismissing appellants' complaint against Apartments, Inc. was entered on May 16, 1980. Judgment on the federal defendants' motion for summary judgment was entered on June 24, 1980.

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Related

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742 F.2d 541 (Ninth Circuit, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
694 F.2d 1196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/isham-v-pierce-ca9-1982.