At the hearing, set for March 20, Judge Loren McMaster will consider a motion by a tenant and an activist group to stop the evictions by Gensiro Kawamoto.

Kawamoto, a reclusive Japanese billionaire with investments in California and Hawai'i, issued eviction notices in Sacramento and Santa Rosa early this month, most giving tenants 30 days to move out. He has said in a statement that he plans to sell the property to raise the money for other investments.

A Sacramento County Superior Court ordered more time for the tenants yesterday.

Kawamoto bought and built the California houses during the 1980s, as he also was buying houses in Hawai'i. He is resurrecting a 900-home real estate project on Maui, while also building a home on 100 acres on Oahu.

The ruling does not affect an additional 150 houses in Santa Rosa.

The motion to halt the evictions was filed by a Kawamoto renter and a national community organizing group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

ACORN's request for an injunction argued that the evictions violate the California Unfair Competition Law. Attorney Bill Kennedy also maintained that mass evictions would strain the Sacramento housing market, make evacuated neighborhoods a target for arson and crime and put a strain on school districts as hundreds of students leave the area.