Local News in Brief : Rent Control Wins Round in U.S. Court

In a major victory for Santa Monica, a federal judge Friday granted the city’s motion for summary judgment and ruled against a 93-year-old landlady challenging the city’s strict rent control law.

Landlords had hoped to use the case to overturn Santa Monica’s rent controls on constitutional grounds. But U.S. District Judge Ronald S. W. Lew in a 14-page ruling said the law could not be found unconstitutional because there was no evidence that it deprived owners of the use and control of their properties.

Attorneys for the landlady, Lena Schnuck, complained that the rent law prevented her from evicting a tenant and had sought a jury trial. Attorney Robert Jagiello said he planned to appeal.

“Our audience is not a trial judge in Los Angeles,” he said. “It’s the Supreme Court in Washington.”

But Santa Monica Deputy City Atty. Barry Rosenbaum said the ruling “should send a clear signal to any landlord organization that if they want to change rent control laws, this (the courts) is not the avenue.”