City Appeals Dismissal of S&L; in Slumlord Case
In an effort to keep a Highland Park-based savings and loan as a defendant in the city’s large civil suit against slumlords and their lenders, the Los Angeles city attorney filed a notice of appeal to challenge a Superior Court ruling removing Highland Federal Savings and Loan from the case.
Last January, Judge Barnet M. Cooperman granted a motion by Highland to be dismissed from a lawsuit filed in 1989 by the city and two public interest law firms against 142 owners and lenders involved with 11 local slum dwellings.
Cooperman said Highland was subject to federal regulations, which preempted the city from filing suit against it. The city attorney contended an entity should not be exempt from state laws governing business practices because it is federally regulated. Since the dismissal, Highland filed suit against tenants represented by the public interest law firms in the 1989 suit, seeking to recover $433,000 in attorney’s fees.
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