A group of Waveland residents has filed a lawsuit against city aldermen and the mayor, claiming their rights were violated when they were refused permits to remain in Hurricane Katrina cottages.

The lawsuit was filed in Hancock County Chancery Court Friday by lawyers with the Biloxi-based Mississippi Center for Justice. It asks the court to issue a preliminary injunction against the city, forbidding officials to force the residents from their cottages when a housing program by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency expires.

MEMA officials started distributing the cottages to displaced homeowners after Katrina.

There are eight plaintiffs, some of whom are disabled. Defendants named in the suit are Waveland Mayor Tommy Longo and the city’s board of aldermen.