Price

The City of Stockton and other defendants 1 (collectively the “City”) appeal in-terlocutorily the district court’s order granting a preliminary injunction in favor of Richard Price, other residents of low income hotels, and Metro Ministry, a nonprofit organization that helps the homeless in Stockton, California (collectively “Plaintiffs”). Plaintiffs brought an action alleging that the City violated its statutory duties under the Housing and Community Development Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Uniform Relocation Act, California’s Redevelopment Act, and California’s Relocation Assistance Act when the City began closing residential hotels and evicting the residents based on housing code violations.

The district court granted a preliminary injunction, finding that Plaintiffs had demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits of their claim under the Housing and Community Development Act and that the balance of hardships tipped in their favor. The City appeals.

I. Background

Plaintiffs are six former tenants of three substandard Single Resident Occupancy hotels (“SRO Hotels”) in downtown Stockton, California, and one nonprofit organization that provides assistance to the…