The civil case against South Delta Regional Housing Authority is moving closer to its early 2011 court date and pre-trial work is well underway.

Since July 2009, residents in several of the neighborhoods and subdivisions owned and maintained by South Delta have been working to keep their rent at its original rate.

Both sides — plaintiffs Hattie Lowe and the other SDRHA residents and the South Delta defendants — will meet on Aug. 26 in Greenville for a case management conference.

Additionally, the plaintiffs were required to submit all of their expert witnesses to the court. The defendants have until Aug. 27 to do so.

All motions either side wishes to make before the trial will be due by Oct. 11.

Last July, residents received notice that their rent would more than double, beginning in August 2009.

“Effective Aug. 1, 2009: rent for one-bedroom houses went from $60 per month to $240 per month; rent for two-bedroom houses went from $120 per month to $320 per month; rent for three-bedroom houses went from $180 per month to $430 per month; rent for four-bedroom houses went from $230 per month to $520 per month; rent for five-bedroom houses went from $300 per month to $640 per month,” read a court document.

Lowe and the the other plaintiffs filed a first suit against the housing authority last summer, following this rent increase notice.

District Court Judge Allen Pepper Jr. determined that SDRHA could, in fact, implement the rent increases and start doing so in November 2009.

“The judge ruled the housing authority could increase rent,” said SDRHA Director A.J. Jefferson.

“Tenants have had to pay the increased rents since November,” said Beth Orlansky, Mississippi Center for Justice advocacy director, in April.

The plaintiffs filed a second suit against South Delta that focuses on how, as a housing authority, SDRHA is bound by law on how it raises rent and by how much.

“Our position has never been that they are not allowed to raise rent,” explained Orlansky in a previous interview. “But the increase they imposed last summer jumped way above what they are entitled to do under statutes.”

The plaintiffs include citizens from Cleveland, Indianola, Rolling Fork and Belzoni.

Over the past several months, the plaintiffs hosted a peaceful demonstration outside of the South Delta Regional Housing Authority office in Leland.

They gathered with friends and family next door to the office and came prepared to set up tents to turn the lot into a shanty town.

This demonstration took place in mid-April.

The SDRHA office in Leland was also raided by the FBI at the beginning of June.

According to earlier reports, the FBI received complaints concerning irregularities in the SDRHA’s operations and records. Computers and records from SDRHA were seized by the FBI.

“I do not know if they're looking for the same things we are,” said Orlansky. “We are looking into some misuse of funds, but the FBI is probably looking at it from a different angle.”

As of presstime, it was not known if anything came out of the FBI raid in June. Calls made to the state office by The Bolivar Commercial had not been returned.