Judge: Mark H. Epstein, Case: 24MSCV00596, Date: 2024-08-19 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 24MSCV00596 Hearing Date: August 19, 2024 Dept: I
The matter is here for trial. At the last hearing, the court denied the
motion for summary judgment, finding that the ordinance was not as clear as the
defense thought concerning whether the property in question is within or
without the rent control law. The court
concluded that the Board apparently thought it was outside the ordinance’s
reach because it refused to allow plaintiff to register the property because of
an ineligible land use code. The court
found that until the Board refused to allow plaintiff to register, he had
registered the property. The court was
willing to defer, at least for these purposes, to the Board’s determination in
light of that evidence and the fact that in July of this year plaintiff
confirmed the Board’s position in person by going to the Board’s offices to
seek clarification. The court also
determined that it would be a denial of due process for the government to
require one to register property as a condition of accepting a rent, refuse to
accept the registration, and then deprive the owner of the ability to collect
rent. To be clear, the government can
require registration as a condition to charge rent. What is an unconstitutional taking and denial
of due process is to so require, refuse to allow the registration, and then
impose the penalty.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the court discussed with
counsel the upcoming trial. Given that
the court is currently engaged in trial and the summary judgment ruling given
that day, the court indicated that it would be amenable to continuing the trial
and directed the parties to meet and confer to arrive at a stipulation. The parties have submitted a
stipulation. The court is not sure
whether the September 23 date is the proposed new date or not. However, the court tends to set trials on
Mondays. In any event, the trial date is
VACATED, and the court will discuss a new date with counsel.