An opinion is expected to be released early next month in an appeal challenging Measure H, Pasadena’s rent control law.
On the Apellate Court’s website, the opinion will be filed on Dec. 8, according to the court of appeals docket.
“I look forward to hearing the court’s decision, especially on the biased structure of the Pasadena Rental Housing Board,” said Simon Gibbons, a plaintiff in the case. “I hope that the appeal court will follow the precedent set by the Orange County Superior Court in October.”
Among other arguments, the California Apartment Association claims that Measure H conflicts with state law and creates an unbalanced rent board.
Seven of 11 board seats are reserved for tenants while excluding most housing providers.
In oral arguments Justice John Segal criticized the structure of the board and called it “the most unfair, discriminatory rent stabilization board that I’ve ever seen. Every vote’s going to be seven to four. You might as well have it say, ‘look, every time there’s an issue, tenants win.'”
However, Segal said “the legislature can do unfair things. I don’t really see any argument that persuades me that there’s something unconstitutional.”
In October, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled the composition of the Santa Ana Rental Housing Board unconstitutional, citing that it was “intentionally unbalanced in favor of tenants” and violated property owners’ due process rights. That ruling has been accepted in a filing in the CAA’s argument.
A future hearing will determine if the Santa Ana ordinance can be severed from the unconstitutional board.
The ruling does not invalidate Santa Ana’s rent control law.
The CAA’s case centers on a similar claim.
In 2022, 52.8% of the voters passed Measure H, which rolled back rents, established the City’s rental board and tenant protections.
Almost immediately after it passed, the California Apartment Association (CAA) challenged the legality of the initiative claiming that it represents a fundamental revision to the City Charter by creating a rent board with powers that override Pasadena’s city council-city manager governance
In March 2023, a Superior Court judge rejected those claims, ruling the measure did not fundamentally alter city government.
The CAA later filed an appeal, and the City and the CAA filed supplemental briefs per the request of the appeals court in October.
According to the CAA, the measure nearly doubled the length of the charter and created a new rent board with significant independent powers — changes that, under the state constitution, can only be made by the City Council or a charter commission.
In its brief, the CAA claims that Pasadena’s relocation assistance requirement is preempted by state housing laws, including the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act and the Tenant Protection Act, also known as Assembly Bill 1482.
The association argues that state law grants landlords the right to set rents on units exempt from local rent control and that cities cannot penalize property owners for exercising those rights.
CAA further contends that when tenants move out after a lawful rent increase, those departures do not constitute evictions subject to local regulation. The brief asserts that Measure H’s relocation payment mandate “has no logical connection” to local authority over evictions and instead interferes with the state’s comprehensive regulation of rent-setting.
Meanwhile, the City claims that the relocation assistance provision falls within its right to regulate or monitor the basis for eviction under the Costa-Hawkins Act. Attorneys for Pasadena argue that the payments are a reasonable way to mitigate the effects of displacement when tenants are forced to move because of large rent increases.
Attorneys representing tenant intervenors echo the City’s position, arguing that steep rent hikes that drive residents from their homes amount to “constructive evictions.” They contend that relocation payments help affected tenants secure new housing in a high-cost market and align with both state and local law.
Pasadena average apartment rents are now around $3,200 per month, well above the national average and among the highest in the region.
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