For nearly four years, the California Apartment Association has pursued its federal lawsuit against Alameda County over its COVID-era eviction moratorium. That case was not simply about one pandemic policy — it was about setting a lasting constitutional boundary. CAA warned at the time that if emergency powers were allowed to override fundamental property rights without judicial scrutiny, governments would be tempted to wield those powers again and again, long after the original crisis had passed.

This week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declared a local state of emergency — not in response to a natural disaster but tied to federal immigration enforcement actions. County officials acknowledged that this declaration is the necessary first step toward imposing yet another eviction moratorium.

This maneuver confirms precisely what CAA’s lawsuit seeks to prevent: the normalization of emergency powers as a political tool to suspend property rights whenever convenient. If every economic or social disruption is enough to trigger emergency eviction bans, then the constitutional protections for property owners are not just weakened — they are effectively optional.

CAA’s lawsuit against Alameda County was designed for this moment. The goal has always been to establish a constitutional precedent that emergency powers cannot be stretched indefinitely or repurposed to enact permanent housing policy by decree. Extraordinary powers were never meant to be a blank check to suspend private contracts, distort markets, or compel housing providers to shoulder social policy burdens without due process.

Los Angeles County’s latest action underscores why this legal fight is essential — not just for one jurisdiction but for every rental housing provider in California. If every societal challenge can be declared an emergency, then every emergency can become an excuse for another eviction ban.

CAA’s Legal Fund exists for this reason. It ensures that when government oversteps, our industry is not powerless — we are prepared. The courts must draw a constitutional boundary, and that boundary must be drawn now before emergency powers become the default mechanism for housing policy.

CAA will continue to fight — because the future of property rights in California depends on it.