Potrero Hill Community Action Committee, Etc. v. The Housing Authority of the City and County of San Francisco

This appeal is from a judgment of dismissal entered after the district court granted a motion to dismiss the complaint, without leave to amend. The plaintiffs seek to raise important questions as to the extent to which, if at all, tenants in a federally financed, low-rent housing project may assert claims against the local housing authority in the federal courts. We affirm because the trial court lacks jurisdiction.

In support of its motion to dismiss, the defendant Housing Authority filed an affidavit which states certain facts as to the status of the individual plaintiffs as tenants in the housing project in question. No counter affidavit was filed. Thus we are required to treat the order as one granting a motion for summary judgment. Rule 12(b), Fed.R. Civ.P. However, the facts stated in the affidavit do not contradict most of the facts stated in the complaint. Therefore, for the purpose of this appeal, we accept the factual allegations of the complaint as true, except to the extent, if any, that they are contradicted by the affidavit, the allegations of which we also accept as true. The complaint pleads two claims for relief, which we summarize.

I. The Complaint.

1. The…