California Apartment Association Keeping Options Open After City Scores Victory in Court

The California Apartment Association said in a post on Wednesday that they are exploring “all available options” after a judge rejected most of its claims in a challenge to a Pasadena rent control law.

On Tuesday, Judge Mary Strobel ruled that Measure H, which passed in November — does not constitute a revision of the City’s Charter or violate the state’s constitution.

“We appreciate Judge Strobel’s time and effort in considering our case, and while we respect the thoroughness of her ruling, we believe most of her conclusions to be incorrect,” said Whitney Prout, CAA’s legal and compliance counsel. “We remain committed to advocating for the rights of rental property owners in Pasadena and will continue to explore all available options to address our concerns in relation to Measure H, including a possible appeal.”

The group called one part of the ruling a “sliver of good news.” Strobel agreed that provisions extending the notice period for terminating tenancies for owner move-ins or pursuant to the Ellis Act beyond state law requirements are preempted.

CAA filed a lawsuit in December challenging the rent control law.

In its lawsuit, the CAA claimed among other things that the restrictions on who may serve on the rent board created to administer the law were unconstitutional, and that various provisions of the ordinance were preempted by state law.

“Measure H does not fundamentally alter the Pasadena City Charter or the basic structure of city government in Pasadena,” Strobel said in her ruling.

The judge also upheld the measure’s provisions requiring that tenants make up a super majority of the rent board. CAA had argued that these restrictions violated the state constitution, which prohibits conditioning the right to hold public office on a “property qualification,” as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the state and federal constitutions.

Strobel rejected these claims, finding that the state constitution’s prohibition on property qualifications was not applicable in this circumstance and that the equal protection clause was not implicated as landlords and tenants are not “similarly situated.”

The ruling further rejected CAA’s challenge to the measure’s requirement for landlords to pay relocation assistance to tenants who move out in response to a rent increase, which CAA asserted was an improper penalty on rental property owners who are exempt from rent control under the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.

The judge found that since the requirement doesn’t directly restrict rent increases, Costa-Hawkins remains unviolated.

“I am grateful that this process is finally over,” said organizer Ryan Bell. “There has been so much confusion with landlords claiming that the lawsuit meant Measure H wasn’t in effect until a judge decided. This was never true but it didn’t stop landlords from saying it and tenants from getting scared by it. Now all that is behind us and we can implement the will of the voters!”