A Message From the President of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles
Earlier this year, I mentioned the importance of pursuing strategies to help our advocacy efforts in order to fight against laws that are detrimental to housing providers, particularly when they interfere with our legal right to engage in the rental housing business. One of the strategies I mentioned was the pursuit of bringing cases to court to overturn laws that we believe violate our constitutional rights to enter into contacts; conduct business with a fair rate of return; protect our confidential business records; and ensure we have the right to an equal protection and due process under the law. So, this month, I wanted to provide you with an update on cases that the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles has that are currently pending in the court.
Right now, we have two cases, both of which are entitled The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles. One case involves an ordinance that requires rental property owners in the City of Los Angeles to provide confidential business information to the City’s Housing Department. If an owner refuses to provide the information required, the City will not issue a rent registration certificate required to allow a property owner to rent his or her apartment units which, of course, will put the rental owner out of business. The second case involves the City of Los Angeles’ ordinance that prohibits housing providers from collecting rent from tenants who claim they have been impacted by COVID-19. In those situations, the ordinance prohibits the use of court procedures to collect the rent that is owed. In both cases, we are seeking to overturn the ordinances and stop the city from enforcing them. While there is a litany of arguments that have and can be made to establish that these laws are unconstitutional, I’ll give you a quick summary.
Rental Registry Litigation
We oppose the rental registry ordinance because we consider the amount of rent paid by a tenant to be confidential personal information of the tenant, and also the confidential business information of the owner. It is clear that tenants want the amount of rent they pay to remain confidential for a variety of financial reasons. Rental owners want to keep the amount they collect for rent to remain confidential for a variety of financial reasons, including competition for tenants or impacts on the perceived value of their buildings which are often based on rental income. But most importantly, we all know that the underlying reason for the City’s demand for this information is to assist it with potential prosecution of rental property owners for perceived violations of the rent stabilization ordinance and / or the fair housing laws where rents differ. To demand a rental registry under these circumstances without a warrant and on the threat of the denial of an owner’s right to obtain a business license without an administrative hearing is a denial of one’s constitutional rights.
Eviction Moratorium
We also know why the rent collection and eviction moratorium is a clear violation of our constitutional rights. Although, there was an economic shutdown due to COVID-19, rental property owners were the only individuals in society who had to provide services without any compensation. to the entire population. Even though food and medical care are just as or even more necessary for survival, those industries did not have to provide these goods and services for free to whoever claimed they needed them. The City’s moratorium ordinance violates many rights including the right to equal protection under the law; the right to due process and to our contracts by preventing us from filing court actions regarding our right to collect rent based on our rental agreements; the right to be compensated for the taking of our private property for the benefit of the entire public without the government paying just compensation; and without requiring tenants to provide one shred of evidence proving that they are actually financially impacted by the pandemic.
I am pleased to report that although the litigation process has been long and challenging, both of those cases were recently argued by our attorneys before the United States Court of Appeals. As of this writing, both cases are now under submission and we expect to hear the results of the Appeals Court decisions soon. We do, of course, expect to prevail. If we do not prevail at the appellate court level, we will continue our fight and file our cases and request hearings before the United States Supreme Court.
Also, I am pleased to inform you that one of our attorneys is involved in a similar rental registry ordinance case that has moved through the federal court system. Recently, he filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court in a case entitled Hotop v. City of San Jose. We have submitted an Amicus Brief or “Friend of the Court” Brief in support of that case. We now have a system set up to provide this type of brief to support other individuals or apartment associations when they file appellate court cases that affect rental owners’ rights. So, thank you to all who have contributed to our Legal Fund. This is one of the best ways that our elected officials know that we mean business about defending our rights.
You can contribute to our Legal Fund so we can continue to fight on your behalf. Please give generously at www.aagla.org/legalfund or by clicking the button below: