Lena R. Schnuck v. City of Santa Monica

Plaintiff Lena Schnuck brought this action attacking the Santa Monica, California, Rent Control Law on several constitutional grounds. The district court entered summary judgment against her, and she appeals. We affirm.

FACTS

In 1979, Santa Monica voters adopted by initiative an amendment to the City Charter imposing a comprehensive rent control system within the City. Santa Monica City Charter, Article XVIII, § 1800 et seq. This Rent Control Law, as we will call it, defined certain rental properties as controlled units, and limited the rents that could be charged for those units. The Law also prescribed grounds for eviction. It authorized a landlord to evict a tenant from a controlled rental unit to permit the landlord to occupy the unit herself. It did not authorize such an eviction for the purpose of owner occupancy, however, if the landlord already resided elsewhere on the property. Rent Control Lav/ § 1806(h)(2).

Schnuck, an elderly widow, owns an eight-unit apartment building in Santa Monica. She lives in a third-floor apartment and rents out the others. The rented units are subject to the Rent Control Law. After Schnuck suffered a stroke in July 1987, she desired to move…