Marjorie Frakes v. Samuel R. Pierce, Jr.

Plaintiffs-appellants are tenants of federally-financed housing projects throughout California. They appeal from a judgment of the district court that granted summary judgment for defendants-appellees, the Secretary and other officials of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) and two owners of housing projects. We affirm.

Background

Appellants are tenants in housing projects in California that have mortgages insured and subsidized by the federal government pursuant to either Section 221(d)(3) or Section 236 of the National Housing Act (the “Act”), 12 U.S.C. § 17157 (d)(3) and 12 U.S.C. § 1715z-l, respectively. Appellants represent, for purposes of their claim for injunctive and declaratory relief, a statewide class of all persons who reside, or have resided since July 1, 1978, in subsidized Section 221(d)(3) and Section 236 projects in California.

On July 1, 1978, Proposition 13, which California voters had passed on June 6, 1978, became effective. It limits taxes on real property to 1% of the full cash value of the property. Proposition 13, thus, substantially reduced the property taxes of all owners of taxable real property, including the…