Here's the latest in a case we've been following. This is GHP Management Corp. v. City of Los Angeles, No. 24-435, the cert petition which asks whether a local ordinance which allowed non-paying tenants to remain in the lessor's property is a physical taking, or merely the regulation of the lessor/lessee relationship under the Yee theory, which posits that once an owner voluntarily rents property to a tenant, the government then allowing that tenant to remain rent free isn't facilitating an unauthorized physical occupation, but rather is merely a regulation of the existing lessor/lessee relationship.
The petitioner property owner has filed its cert stage Reply, which means that all the briefing is in, and next up is for the Supreme Court to set the conference date. Here's the summary of the issues from the Reply:
Respondents prefer a world where government enjoys absolute immunity from as-applied physical takings claims against regulations affecting owner- tenant relationships, even where such laws preclude eviction for non-payment of rent. The Fifth Amendment stands for no such thing.Petitioners’ claim reflects a straightforward application of the doctrine of physical takings reaffirmed in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid. Petitioners should not have been turned away at the courthouse doors on the sole basis that they “invited” tenants to lease in the first place, per Yee v. City of Escondido. That distinction motivates the question presented by this petition, a question that was squarely considered by both courts below, as well as other appellate courts from which the Ninth Circuit now splits.It is time for clarity. Eviction moratoria functionally commandeer private property for the public’s benefit under the guise of merely tinkering with owner-tenant relationships. Such laws will be adopted again to satisfy the purported needs of the day—including just last week in connection with recent wildfires (see infra § II (eviction moratorium adopted in County of Los Angeles applicable to 88 cities)).The petition should be granted.
The case has generated a lot of amici interest on both sides, so we're going to continue to follow along closely. Stay tuned.
