On April 30, 2009, a family of Section 8 landlords in Contra Costa County filed suit against the City of Antioch and several members of its Police Department for violating their civil rights. Antioch is around 40 miles east of San Francisco.

The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco's U.S. District Court for Northern California, alleges that members of the Antioch Police Department used rough and illegal tactics to force the landlords to evict their Section 8 tenants, many of whom are African-Americans.

The suit also alleges that the Riaz Patras family has been targeted by the City of Antioch through its Police Department because they rented their properties to Section 8 families. Read more

More articles by Lynda Carson: Corruption in Oakland's Section 8 program | Oakland housing nonprofit (EBALDC) retaliates against tenant activist | Investigation into Oakland non profit housing organization underway | Stop the Displacement of more than 500 Oakland Households! | Oakland's Just Cause ordinance protects tenants from bankers, realtors, and landlords | Tenants oppose Oakland's renovation plans that may displace hundreds | Nonprofit housing organizations use Tribune against critics of renovation schemes | Oakland's housing renovation schemes move forward | Oakland housing organization believes the poor are dirty and unclean | Housing News- Sending Kids To Jail For Cash