> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Landlords try to lock out rent control - URL: https://www.smdp.com/landlords-try-to-lock-out-rent-control/ - Published: 2005-01-18T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T06:01:09.000Z - Author: John Wood - Tags: Real Estate & Housing, Pico, #archive-import *SMRR leader defends 1979 rent control law* A group of property owners has filed a lawsuit against City Hall in federal court, claiming Santa Monica’s 26-year-old rent control law is unconstitutional because it doesn’t distinguish between poor and wealthy tenants. The lawsuit was filed last month on behalf of Action Apartment Association, a group of about 1,000 area landlords, and landlord Mat Millen, who for 25 years has owned a five-unit apartment building in the eastside Pico neighborhood. Millen lives in one of his units, rents another at market rate and rents a third to a low-income family at a reduced rate, with government subsidies. The other two units, he said, are rented at original, low rent-control rates. 494,“I’m renting these at about half of what the market rate is, but when I call the plumber to come fix something he doesn’t give me a 50 percent reduction on his bill. He charges me market rate,” Millen said Monday. “It’s a burden.” The lawsuit alleges rent control infringes on property owners’ rights because it “regulates land use but fails to substantially advance a legitimate municipal interest and so is... invalid under the U.S. Constitution fifth and 14th amendments.” Attorney Rosario Perry said the lawsuit was not designed to raise the rent on poor tenants, only wealthy ones, adding a judge could create some sort of scale where income would be weighed against the right to rent control protection. In order to circumvent the two-year statute of limitations on the issue, the lawsuit, which was dated Dec. 20, 2004 specifically targets a Dec. 20, 2002 amendment to the rent control law that reinforces its objectives. Though Santa Monica City Hall’s rent control law has been challenged unsuccessfully in state courts, Perry is relying upon three recent federal cases he says prove it is illegal for wealthy tenants to benefit from city-mandated rent control. 46B,“All of them discuss the formula, which is: Does the law advance a substantial state interest?” Perry said Monday. “If a law that impacts regulation of land does not advance a substantial state interest, then it’s unconstitutional.” > “I think this is just a make-work program for struggling local attorneys.” — — DENNY ZANE Co-chair, SMRR Perry pinned blame on the powerful Santa Monicans for Renters Rights group, saying after introducing rent control legislation in 1979 its anti-growth policies have made it near impossible for developers to build new housing, exacerbating a shortage. “SMRR’s housing crisis is nothing more than a self-inflicted injury, and conspiracy to keep the housing crisis current so that they can continue their rent control scheme,” he said. “Rent control in 1979 was a much different animal than it is in 2005,” Perry added. “If they want to legally control housing with rent control, for anybody, even the poor, then they have to allow the housing providers to build housing first.” City attorneys have for years defended the rent control law against legal attacks. They were not available to discuss the new lawsuit Monday, as City Hall was closed in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. 3F6,SMRR co-chair and co-founder Denny Zane said wealthy tenants occupy only a minority of units, because as people make money they typically buy properties of their own. Besides that, Zane said landlords can choose who to rent to. “The first issue about rich tenants is a complete canard,” he said. “Such tenancies are by far the exception and, if they occur, they are completely at the discretion of the landlord who, after all, chooses the tenants. This is just a case of blaming the rent control system for choices the landlords makes, which is absurd.” As to the allegations that SMRR policies have limited the city’s housing stock, Zane said, “The facts of the matter don’t justify the claim. Santa Monica is one of the few cities that has consistently met the regional target for housing production.” Perry said $25,000 has been raised of the $100,000 needed to litigate the lawsuit. Action Association will drop its suit without full funding, he added. Zane questioned Perry’s motives in bringing the lawsuit. While the issue plays itself out in the courts, several city officials praised the 1979 rent control law for helping to form today’s Santa Monica. “I think, in general, rent control was good for Santa Monica,” City Councilman Bobby Shriver said. “It allowed a number of interesting people to live here. The people obviously agreed to that — they put it into the charter. If it weren’t there, it’d be a different town than it is now.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 18, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/011805.pdf?ref=smdp.com)