The lawsuit against Santa Barbara’s rent freeze is dead.
A federal judge on Monday ruled the rent freeze was not “unconstitutional,” giving Santa Barbara renters a win in the city’s ongoing battle over the lawsuit brought by property owners.
John Doimas, the Santa Barbara city attorney, said he was grateful for the court’s decision, adding that the city now looks to focus on moving forward with its rent stabilization ordinance.
But the legal battle against the city is still not over.
The judge’s decision also comes with the opportunity for Attorney Barry Cappello, who is representing the Santa Barbara Rental Property Association and four individual property owners, to amend the lawsuit in the next 21 days.
“The lawsuit against the City is ongoing and is not over,” Cappello wrote in a statement on behalf of Cappello & Noël representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. “The key legal claims in the complaint remain.”
The city had requested to dismiss the lawsuit in May after property owners filed a lawsuit against the rent freeze ordinance passed in January.
If the lawsuit is not amended in time, the case will be dismissed permanently.
Cappello, who filed the lawsuit in April alongside property owners, alleged the rent freeze passed by the City Council in January was “unconstitutional.”
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett of the United States District Court, Central District of California issued the ruling on Monday after reviewing the original complaint which “did not include sufficient facts to rule on the merits at trial,” the statement read from Cappello & Noël.
But the federal judge is allowing plaintiffs to amend the lawsuit to provide more information on why their legal claims against the rent freeze have merit.
The rent freeze for the city would end in December, or whenever the city’s rent stabilization ordinance is approved. The rent stabilization ordinance would cap rent at 60% of consumer price index, or at 3%, whatever is lowest.
The ordinance would apply to apartments built before 1995 and single-family homes owned by a corporation or LLC, and not occupied by an owner.
Cappello is considering filing an amended complaint with the court in early August, according to the statement from his firm.
“We’ll continue to defend the city need be,” said Doimas, the city’s attorney.
