Breaking News
Appeals Court Rules Against the City in Venice Eviction Case; Ellis Act Not the Overriding Law
September 19, 2007, Venice—A California appeals court has issued a groundbreaking ruling essentially stating that the City of Los Angeles did not fulfill its obligation to act in defense of Lincoln Place tenants being evicted and that the tenants were protected from such by an agreement between the city and the developer of the complex, a spokesperson for the Lincoln Place Tenants Association said today.
That agreement between the city and the Lincoln Place developer paved the way for the demolition and redevelopment of Lincoln Place, but included CEQA mitigation measures which stated that “none of the Lincoln Place tenants could be removed against their will,” said the spokesperson.
However, the project developer subsequently used the provisions of the Ellis Act (which allows landlords to evict tenants when the landlord is going out of business) to evict tenants of the apartment complex. Those evictions were not stopped the city.
In making its ruling the court concludes that Ellis Act provisions did not negate the CEQA measures.
The Court’s actions also involve the stopping of evictions of the last 13 tenants left on the Lincoln Place property.
Rosendahl Walks Away with Good News Again
The ruling appears to be another batch of good news for City Councilman Bill Rosendahl. After Rosendahl personally witnessed a group of heavily armed law enforcement moving through the complex to enforce evictions, the councilman had strongly spoken out against the use of the Ellis Act by landlords who were executing condo conversions.
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