Los Angeles Eviction Ban Faces Legal Challenge by City Landlords

(Bloomberg) -- A group of Los Angeles landlords asked a federal judge to overturn eviction bans the city imposed during the pandemic, the latest challenge by property owners of local moves to aid cash-strapped tenants who have lost their jobs during the crisis.

The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles filed a lawsuit Thursday arguing the bans, while well-intentioned, are unconstitutional and have had a “disparate impact on landlords and property owners to the point of jeopardizing” their businesses and livelihoods. The ban on residential and commercial evictions was imposed in March.

“While public agencies understandably feel compelled to ‘do something to help’ in times of crisis, the city’s urgent actions are not well thought out and are causing much more damage than good,” Earle Vaughan, the president of the association’s board, said in a statement.

The suit follows a legal challenge earlier this month in New York by three real estate companies that say they shouldn’t have to pay property taxes if they can’t throw out tenants who don’t pay their rent. That case followed a May action by the owners of eight Westchester County, New York, apartment complexes who similarly called the moratorium unconstitutional.

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