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# Apartment complex owner to pay Rent Control $100,000 This time, the landlord pays
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/apartment-complex-owner-to-pay-rent-control-100-000-this-time-the-landlord-pays/
- Published: 2007-12-21T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T04:28:06.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Real Estate & Housing, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*FROM RENT PAGE 1 Property owner agrees to settle dispute*

CITY HALL The owner of an apartment complex on Ocean Avenue has agreed to pay the Rent Control Board $100,000 after city attorneys discovered the landlord violated the Ellis Act, a state law that permits property owners to go out of the rental business, but puts restrictions on the future use of the property.

Michaelyn Jones, general counsel for the Rent Control Board, said the lawsuit filed against S.M. Ocean Star, LLC was the first of its kind and lets landlords know that “the Rent Control Board is serious about pursuing landlords who abuse the Ellis Act.”

The owner of the Ocean Apartments — located at 423-429 Ocean Ave. — has denied any wrongdoing, but decided to settle the case rather than face litigation and the costs associated with it, according to the attorney representing Ocean Star. The attorney would not answer any other questions regarding the settlement.

It was alleged that Ocean Star withdrew one of three apartment buildings from the rental market in July 2004, with tenants in the four units being evicted. The owner then re-rented some of the units within two years of withdrawing them from the market, a violation of the Ellis Act.

Under the law, the Rent Control Board is authorized to bring an action for exemplary damages against the owner for doing so. The purpose of the exemplary damages is to penalize the landlord for abusing the Ellis Act, and to serve as an example to other landlords that such abuses will not be tolerated, Jones said.

Three of the evicted tenants are pursuing separate actions against the owner, Jones said.

Calls to the attorney representing the former tenants were not returned.

Jones said she was tipped off by a resident living next to the apartment building in question. When attorneys went to investigate, Jones said they found people living in two units who admitted to paying some form of rent.

“Evidence is always the hurdle in cases like this,”Jones said. “Here, though, we had people who admitted to paying rent.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 21, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/122107.pdf?ref=smdp.com)