Cal. Apartment Assn. v. City of Pasadena (2025)

Citation: Cal. Apartment Assn. v. City of Pasadena (2025)
Parent Document: Cal. Apartment Assn. v. City of Pasadena (2025)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 2025-12-18
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10761039/cal-apartment-assn-v-city-of-pasadena/ ↗

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       In Coyne, supra, 9 Cal.App.5th at page 1231, the court
considered whether the Ellis Act (Gov. Code, § 7060 et seq.)
preempted San Francisco ordinances that required residential
landlords to make enhanced relocation payments to tenants
before the landlords were permitted to go out of business and
evict the tenants in the process. The Ellis Act protects property
owners’ right to remove their property from the residential rental
market. (See Gov. Code, § 7060, subd. (a).) The city argued that
a facial challenge to the relocation payment ordinances was
improper “given the range of potential mitigation payments
possible” and because the plaintiffs had not attempted to show
that all or most landlords would be unable to exercise their Ellis
Act rights if the ordinances were upheld. (Coyne, at p. 1232.)
The appellate court rejected the argument, holding its decision
invalidating the relocation payment ordinances did not depend on
any particular application of the ordinances or particular amount
of required relocation payments. (Ibid.) Rather, the court
concluded “the City’s enhanced relocation payment regulations
are on their face preempted as categorical infringements which
impose a prohibitive price on a landlord’s right to exercise his
rights to go out of the residential rental business.” (Ibid.)
       Similarly here, as we will explain, section 1806(b)(C)
imposes a categorical infringement on a landlord’s right under
the Costa-Hawkins Act to set rent on an exempt unit at whatever
rate the landlord chooses. Thus, it matters not that the amount
of required relocation assistance is not yet ascertainable. In
addition, the fact that some tenants will not move if their rent is

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