United States v. Fritz Properties, Inc.

This action charges a violation of the Housing and Rent Act of 1947, as amended by the Housing and Rent Act of 1949. The defendant maintains that the accommodations concerned are decontrolled by virtue of Section 202(c) (1) (A) of the 1949 Act, 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 1892, which reads as follows:

As a preliminary question, this Court decided, contrary to defendant’s contention, that the critical test date to be used in determining whether an establishment is “commonly known as a hotel” and hence decontrolled, is June 30, 1947, as was true under the 1947 Act. There appears to be a conflict in the appellate courts as to the issue. Compare Koepke v. Fontecchio, 9 Cir., 177 F.2d 125 , with Woods v. Oak Park Chateu Corp., 7 Cir., 1950, 179 F.2d 611 . However, in view of this Court’s decision on the remaining issues in the case, further discussion of this preliminary issue is unnecessary, since a contrary holding thereon would not alter the ultimate decision.

Two issues were argued at length 'before the 'Court and will be discussed separately. (1) Were the defendant’s housing accomo-dations commonly known as a hotel on June 30, 1947 and thereafter? (2) As a matter of law, is defendant…