Local News in Brief : Group Fights Rent Control
A newly formed organization of landlords has taken aim against Santa Monica’s tough rent control law in mounting what it hopes will become a statewide legal challenge to rent control.
The group, called the Foundation for the Defense of Free Enterprise, has sponsored one lawsuit in U.S. District Court, pitting an 89-year-old Santa Monica landlady against the city, and plans at least five other suits attacking rent control laws on constitutional grounds, spokesman Geoffrey Strand said.
The foundation was formed in Santa Monica but has members from West Hollywood, Los Angeles, San Jose, Berkeley, Palo Alto and San Francisco, Strand said.
Members of the Santa Monica Rent Control Board noted that the city’s law has withstood legal challenges before.
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