Jennifer C. Turpen Donald Lee Thomas v. City of Corvallis
Opinion
Opinion
I.
Jennifer Turpén and Donald Thomas (Plaintiffs) brought a § 1983 action against the City of Corvallis, alleging the City’s termination without notice of their water service because their landlord failed to pay the water bill violated their right to due process. The parties submitted the case for summary judgment on stipulated facts. The district court held Plaintiffs had no property right to continued water service, but did have a prop erty right in a cause of action for injunctive relief against the landlord and had been deprived of this property interest without due process by the termination of service without notice. We affirm.
II.
Oregon law requires a landlord to maintain dwelling units in a habitable condition; a dwelling unit is uninhabitable under Oregon law if it “substantially lacks ... [a] water supply.” Oregon Landlord and Tenant Act, Or.Rev.Stat. § 90.320(l)(c). Section 90.-360(1) of the statute provides the tenant with a cause of action to “recover damages and obtain injunctive relief for any noncompliance ... with ... ORS § 90.320.” Relying on the holding in Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co., 455 U.S. 422, 428 , 102 S.Ct. 1148, 1154 , 71 L.Ed.2d 265 (1982), that “a…