When a lender forecloses on a mortgage, term lease agreements that were signed after that mortgage was recorded are extinguished. A recent federal statute (The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act) has altered this rule. However, if a lease is not arm’s length or it sets a rental rate substantially below market, then the foreclosure will invalidate the lease. Andrew Hawkins, who reportedly coerced more than 2,500 tenants into vacating...
Read MoreIt is very rare for the California Supreme Court to review a decision of the Court of Appeal. In this landmark case, the court held that the Ellis Act allows landlords to evict tenants and go out of business for any reason, and the tenant’s allegation that the eviction is retaliatory cannot be a defense to an unlawful detainer claim nor can the withdrawal be the basis of a claim for money damages after leaving. Landlords cannot be compelled to...
Read MoreSan Remo Hotel v. City and County of San Francisco
This case was a 12-year battle challenging the constitutionality of the City’s efforts to force our clients to rent rooms in their small historic hotel to low-income permanent residents, rather than tourists. Ultimately, the City granted a permit allowing tourist use, but imposed a permit condition requiring the payment of $567,000. Thomas and Robert Field, the owners of the San Remo, claimed that the fee is extortion and violates the...
Read MoreTom v. City and County of San Francisco
In San Francisco many aspiring homeowners join together to buy buildings. They share ownership of the entire building 100% but privately agree in writing to split up the units among themselves. San Francisco tried to stop these agreements in order to discourage home ownership. The Court of Appeal agreed with us that doing so would violate the California Constitution’s right to privacy.
Our clients – who were neighboring tenants of plaintiffs (who were also tenants) – were sued for wrongful eviction. Plaintiffs claimed that out clients conspired with the landlord to force plaintiffs out of the building because they are disabled. Our clients were sued for calling animal control to report that plaintiffs’ 160 pound dog was dangerous and participating in the landlord’s attempt to evict plaintiffs in court....
Read MoreBeck v. Prana Eight Properties
In this case, tenants of one property owner attempted to void a prior judgment between their landlord and a neighboring property owner to which they were not parties. The judgment required our client, the landlord, to remove an unlawful fire escape. The trial court denied our client’s anti-SLAPP motion, finding that although the action arose from the protected conduct of prior litigation, tenants showed a probability of prevailing on the...
Read MoreThis is the sequel to the 2007 published decision in Birkner v. Lam. After the Court of Appeal remanded for consideration of the merits of Plaintiffs’ case, the trial court held that Lam’s litigation privilege defense insulated him from liability for serving a relative move-in eviction notice, even if the tenants were protected from eviction under the Rent Ordinance. The Court of Appeal affirmed.
Tehlirian v. City and County of San Francisco
In this unfortunate case, the City Board of Appeals bowed to tenant activist pressure and denied a remodel permit for a two unit building that had not been upgraded or updated in more than 50 years, and needed it badly. The remodeling would have temporarily displaced a tenant activist, who did not want to leave, and he also argued that the new building would not be inexpensive to rent. The Court of Appeal affirmed the Board of Appeals based on a...
Read MoreThe Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court, holding that a tenant’s assertion that the owner’s Ellis Act invocation is defective does not support a claim for declaratory relief.
Small Property Owners of San Francisco v. City and County of San Francisco
The Court of Appeal denied attorney’s fees to two plaintiffs in Tom v. City and County of San Francisco.
