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invalidated Berkeley’s rent control law to the extent it required a landlord to obtain a
certificate of eviction from the city before seeking to evict a tenant pursuant to the
summary repossession provisions of Code of Civil Procedure sections 1159 through
1179a. As the court explained, “To require landlords to fulfill the elaborate prerequisites
for the issuance of a certificate of eviction by the rent control board before they
commence the statutory proceeding would nullify the intended summary nature of the
[state law] remedy.” (Birkenfeld, 17 Cal.3d at p. 151.)
The court upheld, however, the substantive limitations on grounds for eviction
against a challenge that they conflicted with state law. The court first concluded the city
had the power to provide for rent control. It reasoned, “The fact that the charter
amendment prohibits landlords of residential units within the city from charging more
than the maximum rents prescribed by a municipal rent control board under specified
standards does not bring the amendment into conflict with general state law. California
has no state rent control statute. There is of course extensive state legislation governing
many aspects of landlord-tenant relationships, some of which pertain specifically to the
determination or payment of rent. (See, e.g., Civ. Code, § 827 (changing rent terms in
tenancies of one month or less); [citations].) But neither the quantity nor the content of
these statutes establishes or implies any legislative intent to exclude municipal regulation
of the amount of rent based on local conditions. [Citation.] The charter amendment’s
purpose of preventing exploitation of a housing shortage through excessive rent charges
is distinct from the purpose of any state legislation, and the imposition of rent ceilings
does not materially interfere with any state legislative purpose. [Citation.] Whether the
relevant field be deemed to be rent control as such or a broader aspect of landlord-tenant
relations [citation], there is no legislative indication of ‘a paramount state concern
[which] will not tolerate further or additional local action.’ [Citation.]” (Birkenfeld,
supra, 17 Cal.3d. at pp. 141–142, fn. omitted, italics added.)