We would not have guessed back in March when we posted the "first" coronavirus shut down takings complaint that we'd still be at it at the end of 2020, but here we are.
The latest is this complaint filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon against Oregon's governor (in her official capacity), the City of Portland, and Multnomah County, asserting that "several provisions of law, including state statutes, executive orders, and municipal ordinances that, taken together, significantly impair Plaintiffs’ rental contracts and amount to per se takings and unreasonable seizures of Plaintiffs’ property for a public purpose without just compensation." Complaint at 2.
The laws referred to are a series of state and municipal statutes and ordinances that establish and enforce a moratorium on termination of tenancies. Rather than go into details, we recommend you read the complaint (it's not one of those massive tens-of-pages long complaints that we have grown accustomed to seeing lately), and is a pretty "short and plain statement" as the rules of civil procedure contemplate.
What's the relief sought, you ask? Not just compensation, at least directly (that pesky 11th Amendment doctrine). A declaration that the moratorium is invalid, and a related injunction prohibiting the defendants from implementing and enforcing it. But not just that (and this one warms our heart, see our amicus brief in this case for example): "In the alternative, issuing an injunction requiring Defendants to design and implement a plan to adequately compensate Plaintiffs and all others similarly situated for their rental losses, incurred as a result of the Eviction Moratoria." Complaint at 18. We think this is a very reasonable way to approach the question, and we're aware of at least one court (a panel of the Ninth Circuit) has accepted it, although in a slightly different situation.
What about the merits, you ask? We've laid out our thoughts on the takings issues in this article, soon to be published by the William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal (the piece is undergoing the final round of edits).
We'll keep following along.
Complaint, Farhoud v. Brown, No. 3:20-cv-02226-JR (D. Ore. Dec. 21, 2020)
