VISTA -- A settlement hearing will be held today at the Vista courthouse in a $43 million lawsuit filed against the city of Oceanside by a group of residents whose homes were destroyed or damaged two years ago in a slow-moving landslide.

The hearing will be held at 1:30 p.m. at the Vista courthouse.

The slide began in January 2005 after a season of heavy rain. Within days, the collapsing hillside had cut into several properties on Arroyo Avenue and Comanche Drive, two streets in eastern Oceanside that border the upper and lower edges of the slide.

Six homes on Arroyo were eventually destroyed and about a dozen on Comanche were damaged.

The lawsuit alleges that the city of Oceanside's "water and sewer system discharged approximately 1 million gallons of water and sewage into the fragile soil over the two to three years prior to the landslide" and that the "city tried to cover up and repair the sewer leak and got caught."

Homeowners also allege that the city "knew and had notice by prior complaint of leaks in the fire hydrants, water mains and sewer lines at the area," and that they "were outdated beyond their useful life."

The city has denied it is responsible for the slide. Court papers filed by the city, through an outside attorney hired to handle the case, state that heavy rainfall caused the slide and that the "homes were constructed on geological unstable materials that are prone to landslides because of their high clay content."

The homeowners are seeking damages for the six homes that were destroyed and for several others whose value the suits claims has been irreparably damaged.

The plaintiffs are asking for roughly $7.5 million to cover the fair market value of the homes; $11.6 million for emotional distress; $2.2 million to repair the homeowners' credit scores; $7.5 million to stabilize the hillside; and about $12 million in attorneys' fees.