A Federal Appeals Court in Chicago has ruled for the first time that homeowners in poor neighborhoods who believe they are victims of redlining by insurance companies can sue insurers under Federal housing law.

But the agreement also allows homeowners to still sue even if Monsanto bought their homes.

More than a dozen homeowners have already sued.

And across town, several homeowners are suing in Federal court to stop a $330 million tunnel that would plow through a middle-class black neighborhood to deliver traffic to the planned Mirage casino development.

In both cases, the homeowners sued on the ground that the presence of the journalists violated their Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches.

In some cases, a homeowner can sue the contractor even if he is unlicensed, but too often such workmen either disappear or have no assets, leaving you with dangling wires and holes in the wall.

In California, for example, homeowners living near power lines sued the power company to recover for an alleged decrease in their property values because of the presence of electromagnetic fields, Mr. Higgins said.

Several homeowners sued the City and remained in their houses for several years after the majority of houses were vacated.

A Fort Greene block association and other homeowners sued over an environmental impact statement that failed to consider how rerouted traffic would affect their neighborhood, one block away from the project.

A Federal court has ruled that homeowners in poor neighborhoods can sue insurers that deny them coverage.