San Francisco Apartment Ass'n v. City & County of San Francisco

This is an appeal from the trial court’s grant of a writ of mandate and injunctive relief in favor of plaintiffs San Francisco Apartment Association (SFAA), Coalition for Better Housing (CBH), and San Francisco Association of Realtors (SFAR) (collectively, plaintiffs). Plaintiffs sought this relief against defendant City and County of San Francisco (City/County) on preemption grounds, asserting that a local ordinance, San Francisco Planning Code, article 3, former section 317, subdivision (e)(4) (hereinafter, former section 317(e)(4) or Ordinance), absolutely conflicted with the Ellis Act, Government Code section 7060 et seq. (hereinafter, Ellis Act).

The Ellis Act is a California statute that, among other things, protects property owners’ right to exit the residential rental business. The Ordinance, in turn, was enacted in its current form in December 2013 as part of Ordinance No. 287-13 in response to a growing concern by the board of supervisors (and others) about the shortage of affordable local housing and rental properties. Pursuant to former section 317(e)(4), certain residential property owners—to wit, those undertaking no-fault evictions, including so-called…