The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal has ruled in favor of a group of
tenants in Echo Park who were entangled in a legal battle with their
complex’s owner, who wanted to raise rents and issued eviction notices
to the group.
At issue was whether Los Angeles landlords, whose buildings are
subject to the city’s rent control laws, can opt out of a federal
program that subsidizes rent for low-income tenants.
The appeals court, which issued the ruling Friday, upheld the
decision of a district court and said “the eviction notices are invalid
for failure to comply with LARSO (Los Angeles Rent Stabilization
Ordinance).”
“LARSO is not preempted by HUD’s ‘good cause’ regulation because HUD
did not intend to preempt local eviction controls,” the decision read.
The complex, co-owned by UCLA real estate instructor Eric Sussman
and several partners, issued eviction notices to 22 families in 2006.
Sussman and his lawyer had thought that owners had a right to opt out
of the federal rent subsidy program.
“It’s a tremendous victory for the tenants that we’ve been working
for in Echo Park,” said Larry Gross, executive director of the Los
Angeles-based Coalition for Economic Survival. “We’re pretty ecstatic
about this ruling,” Gross said. He added that the decision could have
national implications for low-income tenants.
In 2007, the tenants showed up outside Sussman’s UCLA classroom
holding picket signs as the professor gave his lecture. They wore
bright red T-shirts, chanted “shame on you” and carried a letter asking
UCLA’s chancellor to review the professor’s business practices.
At the time, Sussman said he thought it was inappropriate for the
tenants to attempt to “harass and intimidate” him. He could not be
reached for comment Saturday.
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