Sanchez

FACTS AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

A. Trial Court Proceedings On June 9, 2016, plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging that Thompson and Burch violated the Santa Monica tenant harassment ordinance by seeking to evict them from their apartment without justification.2 Thompson filed a special motion to strike the complaint under the anti-SLAPP statute (Code Civ. Proc., § 416.25).3 He argued plaintiffs’ complaint was based on activity protected by the statute, i.e., his filing of the unlawful detainer actions, and that plaintiffs could not show a probability of prevailing on the merits because, among other reasons, the Santa Monica

2 The complaint also alleged retaliation by a landlord in violation of Civil Code section 1942.5 against Burch and Miller & Desatnik. Because those defendants are not party to this appeal, we do not address that portion of the complaint. 3 Unspecified statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure.

3 ordinance restricting eviction on the basis of illegal activity was preempted by state landlord-tenant law (§ 1161, subd. (4)). The trial court (Judge Barbara A. Meiers) granted the anti- SLAPP motion. The court agreed with Thompson that state law…