Silver Sage Partners, Ltd. v. City of Desert Hot Springs

ORDER AND OPINION

ORDER

The opinion filed on May 21, 2001 is withdrawn.

OPINION

We must decide whether a jury’s award of damages in the amount of $3,040,439 was against the clear weight of the evidence. Because we conclude that it was not, we reverse and remand with instructions that the jury’s verdict be reinstated. We must also decide whether plaintiffs who have established a defendant’s liability under the Fair Housing Act must demonstrate a reasonable likelihood of future violations of the Act in order to be entitled to injunctive relief under the Act. We conclude that they need not and so reverse and remand for reconsideration.

BackgRound

Silver Sage Partnership, Ltd. (the partnership or Silver Sage) is a partnership organized to purchase and develop low-income housing at a mobile home park in the City of Desert Hot Springs, California (the city). Paul Saben and Richard Earlix were the partnership’s principals. In 1990, the partnership entered into an agreement with Huntington Savings and Loan to purchase the Silver Sage Mobile Home Park, which was located in the city. 1 The partnership initially sought to finance the project with bonds to be issued by Riverside County.…