Barrington Plaza Mass Eviction Trial Update

CLOSING STATEMENTS

Last Tuesday, attorneys provided closing statements in the important lawsuit filed by of the Barrington Plaza Tenant Association against its landlord, Douglas Emmett, Inc. The lawsuit seeks to stop the mass eviction at the 712 rent controlled Barrington Plaza Apartments in West Los Angeles based on the Ellis Act, a state law that allows landlords to evict if they plan to remove the units from the rental market.

The outcome of the lawsuit is critical to all renters protected by rent control laws in the City of Los Angeles and throughout California. If this landlord is successful in its illegal use of the Ellis Act, it could open the door for other tenants to face similar evictions for mere renovations.

One thing we agreed with the Douglas Emmett, Inc. attorney in his closing statement is when he said, “This case is about upholding the law.”

He also stated that this was not a “sham” eviction to bypass the provisions of the LA’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO). On this point we wholeheartedly disagree.

A total false claim by Douglas Emmett Inc was that the LA Fire Department and the Department of Building and Safety mandated that they must install fire sprinklers in the complex requiring the units to be vacated. There was absolutely no such mandate made by the City.

The corporate landlord attorney called the tenants and their supporters “conspiracy theorists” and that their lawsuit was an “irrelevant side show.”

Another complete untruth he said was that the “Tenants say the owner has no right to install sprinklers.” Tenants have never opposed the installation of fire sprinklers. They oppose the unjust and illegal mass evictions to install them.

Their attorney also stated that the mass eviction would be the best way to “protect tenants who would not have to live in non-sprinklered buildings.”

The Barrington Plaza Tenant Association’s attorney, Fran Campbell of the Law Firm of Campbell/Farahani, continued her blistering defense of the tenants by attacking Douglas Emmett Inc. evictions as a violation of the Ellis Act since the owners have and never had any intention of going out of the rental business which is required under the law.

She argued the landlord claims that its main concern is for the safety of tenants, given two fires at the building. Campbell pointed out that since the last fire they have leased some 500 units, clearly indicating that safety was not their concern.

She also indicated that by re-renting the units it was Douglas Emmett that made the temporary tenant relocation required to do the work under the Tenant Habitability Plan (THP) more difficult. She also noted, that at the time, Douglas Emmett had 322 vacant units at another building they owned across the street that provided an easy solution to temporarily relocation tenants.

Focusing on the fact that the owner always intended to re-rent Barrington Plaza, Campbell stated on the first day of trial, “If you’re permanently going out of the rental business and do not plan on re-renting, then who are you sprinkling?”

In her opening statement, she said, evidence presented during the trial would show that the company for years had plans to “transform and upgrade” the complex and to re-rent the apartments “at a new market rate.” And, indeed Campbell did.

The judge centered his questions on the definition of the word “permanent,” as in permanently go out of the rental business, which is clearly stated as a requirement to Ellis Act evict under the City’s rent control law.

The judge asked both parties to submit a draft Statement of Decision by May 13. He set a date for supplemental closing statements to be heard on Monday, May 20 at 2 pm at the Santa Monica Courthouse. The judge plans to issue a decision shortly after that hearing.

In L.A., Thousands of Newer Apartments Have Rent Caps. Tenants Don’t Always Know.

By Andrew Khouri, Paloma Esquivel and Vanessa Martínez - April 29,2024

Excepts from article:

Unbeknownst to many tenants across the city, an obscure city rule requires some newly built rental properties to be put under the city’s rent stabilization ordinance, commonly referred to as rent control.

Developers have built more than 10,000 such units since 2007, city records show, adding a new crop of rent-controlled housing across the city.

The buildings offer a counterpoint to real estate industry claims that rent control limits new construction. But they also raise a question: do their tenants even know they live in rent-controlled units?

……..

Generally, the city’s rent control law only applies to buildings built on or before Oct. 1, 1978 — a cutoff date many landlords and at least some renters are acutely aware of. Under the rules, landlords can set the rent whenever a unit becomes vacant, but face limits on how much they can raise rent on individual tenants annually, usually between 3% and 8%, depending on inflation.

Newer buildings typically do not have those protections, but they can depending on what was there before. Under a 2007 city ordinance, newly constructed apartments, townhomes and condos must be rent controlled if an older rent controlled property was demolished on site.

……..

Tenant advocates, meanwhile, say that even if some new rent-controlled apartments are being built, replacing older rent controlled units for new ones is devastating. Not only are people evicted, but new construction demands a premium when the unit is initially rented.

“The only ones who make out with this trade off is the developers and the landlords who are pulling in more and more profits and income on the backs of those people they have displaced,” said Larry Gross, executive director with the tenants advocacy group Coalition for Economic Survival.

………

Renters who live in any rent-controlled buildings — old or new — should know about it. The Los Angeles Housing Department requires the landlord to alert tenants by posting notice at the property. But several residents who spoke to The Times at the newer buildings said they had no idea.

………

Gross, the tenant advocate, said it’s a constant struggle to educate tenants of their rights, with many residents of older properties not understanding they have rent control protections. He believes the problem is even worse in newer buildings, because even if people understand rent control exists they often believe all new properties are exempt.

“There’s not enough education and outreach,” Gross said.

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