The good guys win one in a rent control case. (Ok, I’m a bit biased since this is our client) In a ground breaking decision in Guggenheim v. the City of Goleta, a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit has concluded that the City of Goleta’s adoption of rent control in 2002 caused a taking of the Guggenheims’ Rancho Mobile Home Park property. The Court found that the adoption of the rent regulation was a taking because it had resulted in a huge wealth transfer from the park owner to tenant. The Court cited evidence that space rents were at 20 percent of fair market and mobile homes were selling at huge premiums because of rent control. The Court also found that when the government imposes such onerous regulation in the name of advancing affordable housing, it is improperly imposing a burden on an individual property owner that should be borne by the community as a whole. The Court left the decision of how much compensation to be paid to the District Court. The Guggenheim decision is the first state or federal appellate decision which has found the adoption of rent control caused a compensable taking. I am proud to be a part of the legal team representing the park owners.
Filed under: Current Decisions, Rent Control
Mark,
Nice Blog. Interesting on the rent control, I wonder what happens long term.
Oil Can
The City and a large group of local government organizations are asking for rehearing and will seek supreme court review if that fails. If the decision survives, it will likely change how rent control is applied.
Mark
When will we know if the Ninth Circuit grants a rehearing?
I am one of the owners of a small mobile home park. the old, single wide mobile homes have an appraised value of about $12,000 but sell for $50,000 plus because of rent control over the space rent.
The Ninth Circuit has no deadline for deciding on rehearing. I would expect to hear something in the next few months.