Parkmerced Residents Organization v. San Francisco Residential Rent Stabilization & Arbitration Board

This is an appeal by Parkmerced Company (Parkmerced), real party in interest in the trial court, from a judgment of the superior court granting a second petition for peremptory writ of mandate directed to the San Francisco Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Board (the Rent Board). This second writ commanded the Rent Board to set aside its amended decision, permitted it to reopen the hearing for further proceedings before the Rent Board, and ordered the Rent Board to issue a new decision containing findings in support of its new decision. We reverse the judgment.

Statement of the Case

This case involves the San Francisco Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Ordinance (the ordinance) and the rules and regulations (rules) of the Rent Board created by the ordinance. Parkmerced Residents Organization and seven individual tenants of Parkmerced (the tenants) filed a petition under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5 seeking a writ directing the Rent Board to set aside its amended decision permitting Parkmerced to continue to use a method of calculating utility pass-throughs different from the current rule, allowing the Rent Board to reopen the hearing…