Ocean Park Associates v. Santa Monica Rent Control Board

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION Appellant Ocean Park Associates, Inc. seeks review of a trial court judgment that denied appellant's writ petition and upheld decisions made by the Santa Monica Rent Control Board (the Board) on (1) petitions for rent decreases submitted by certain tenants of appellant's apartment building and (2) a single petition filed by the Board administrator on behalf of all the tenants of the building. The adjustments were based on numerous construction projects that ultimately improved the building but left various common area facilities unavailable for long periods of time and caused considerable disruption and noise. Appellant contends that the decision of the Board represented an unconstitutional intrusion on judicial power; that the Board cannot base rent decreases on building defects that do not rise to the level of safety code violations; that the Board regulations at issue do not rationally advance the purposes of the governing ordinance, the Santa Monica Rent Control Charter Amendment (RCCA); that the Board exceeded its authority under the governing ordinance by filing on behalf of tenants who had not initiated a complaint on their own; and that the Board's decision was not supported by the evidence.