Supreme Court turns down claim from L.A. landlords over COVID evictions ban

WASHINGTON — With two conservatives in dissent, the Supreme Court on Monday turned down a property-rights claim from Los Angeles landlords who say they lost millions from unpaid rent during the COVID-19 pandemic.Without comment, the justices said they would not hear an appeal from a coalition of apartment owners who said they rent “over 4,800 units” in “luxury apartment communities” to “predominantly high-income tenants.” They sued the city seeking $20 million in damages from tenants who did not pay their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They contended the city’s strict limits on evictions during that time had the effect of taking their private property in violation of the Constitution.In the past, the court has repeatedly turned down claims that rent control laws are unconstitutional, even though they limit how much landlords can collect in rent.California City Atty.

Mike Feuer defended the city’s measure, saying his office wrote a “lawful ordinance” that kept tenants from becoming homeless amid COVID-19.But the L.A.landlords said their claim was different because the city had effectively taken use of their property, at least for a time.

They cited the 5th Amendment’s clause that says “private property [shall not] be taken for public use without just compensation.”“In March 2020, the city of Los Angeles adopted one of the most onerous eviction moratoria in the country, stripping property owners ...of their right to exclude nonpaying tenants,” they told the court in GHP Management Corporation vs.

Los Angeles.“The city pressed private property into public service, foisting the cost of its coronavirus response onto housing providers.”“By August 2021, when [they] sued the City seeking just compensation for that physical taking, back rents owed by their unremovable tenants had ballooned to over $20 million,” they wrote.

A federal judge in Los Angeles and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 3-0 decision dismissed the la...