After weeks of legal maneuvering, the city of East Palo Alto picked up two boxes of documents Monday from Page Mill Properties, LLC, that will eventually shed light on the landlord's recent rent increases, city attorneys said.
The original order to turn over the evidence came from San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Marie S. Weiner on Sept. 5, in which she denied Page Mill's request to protect the documents. Page Mill unsuccessfully argued that the information was confidential.
Two stipulations worked in the landlord's favor, however. The city can only use this evidence in the current case and the city is also obligated to redact names and rents, or file the documents under seal. In a statement, Page Mill's attorney Andrew Zacks said his client was pleased that the judge issued the two stipulations, while outside city attorney Rick Jarvis said those guidelines do not pose a problem in his case.
Page Mill, however, still fought the order, claiming that it did not pertain to Woodland Park Management, LLC, a management company owned by Page Mill that was in possession of some documents. Although it didn't hold up in Weiner's courtroom last Friday, it did buy the landlord a few days before an important hearing that is tentatively scheduled for this Friday.
With so much information in hand, Jarvis said he might need to reschedule the hearing.
"We need to evaluate a lot of information," Jarvis said. "Page Mill was supposed to get this information to me a long time ago."
Friday's hearing, if it goes forward, will mark the start of the city's legal challenge to about 2,200 rent increases that Page Mill issued in two waves in its roughly 1,700 units over the last year. Many residents received two increases that, combined, boosted their rents by more than 30 percent. The city is contending that Page Mill's actions violate the city's rent stabilization ordinance.
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