The California Apartment Association today asked Los Angeles Superior Court to stall further implementation of Measure H, the Pasadena rent control law approved by voters in the November election.
The request for a temporary restraining order asks the court to place the law on hold while CAA’s challenge to the validity of the measure is decided.
CAA’s lawsuit, filed Dec. 16, alleges that the measure unlawfully revises Pasadena’s charter, unconstitutionally restricts which people may serve on the rent board created to administer the law, and violates the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.
The request filed today argues that an order should be issued immediately to halt further rollout of the law because CAA is likely to prevail on its claims and because failing to place the law on hold in the interim is likely to do more harm than good.
The court is expected to initially consider CAA’s request on Friday, Jan. 6. If CAA’s request for a temporary restraining order – an order to halt further implementation of the law pending a full hearing – is granted, the court will then set a follow up hearing on CAA’s request for a preliminary injunction to keep the law on hold until a final decision in the case is made.
“[T]his case presents questions of law that can be resolved expeditiously, and nothing would preclude the City from promptly implementing some or all of Measure H, if any of it is upheld, upon resolution by the Court. Indeed, delaying the implementation of Measure H until this case is resolved would benefit … the public interest, because it would enable the process of creating the Rent Board and administering the Act to be conducted (if it ultimately is) efficiently, with full knowledge of what provisions (if any) are legal and enforceable, rather than committing the City to the wasteful expenditure of time and resources to undertake actions that may subsequently be undone.”
— CAA’s request to halt implementation
