Village Trailer Park, Inc. v. Santa Monica Rent Control Board

This dispute concerns the Santa Monica rent control law. The owner of a trailer park argues that the Santa Monica Rent Control Board has no jurisdiction to determine whether mobilehome leases are subject to rent control. The trial court found that the rent control board is entitled to determine whether the leases are exempt from rent control, and is authorized to impose excess rent penalties; however, the court remanded the matter to the rent control board for further proceedings. Both parties have appealed.

There is no final, appealable judgment. Nevertheless, we choose to treat the purported appeals as petitions for a writ of mandate. We conclude: (1) the rent control board has jurisdiction to determine whether mobilehome leases are exempt from local rent control; (2) an arbitration clause in a mobilehome lease does not prevent the rent control board from applying the rent control law to the landlord; (3) a landlord is not entitled to advance notice of a rent control violation before being assessed for charging excess rent; (4) the rent control board may award the tenant interest on the excess rent collected by the landlord; and (5) the board may exclude annual rent…