The Santa Barbara Rental Property Association and four property owners filed a federal lawsuit on April 3 challenging the city of Santa Barbara’s temporary moratorium on rent increases and seeking an injunction to stop the enforcement of eviction restrictions, in the latest bid opposing the city’s long-term plan for a permanent rent stabilization ordinance.
The property owners — represented by Santa Barbara attorney Barry Cappello, managing partner of Cappello & Noël — argue that the City Council “failed to conduct adequate due diligence” before deciding to adopt the temporary tenant protections. The lawsuit further alleges that the city “dismissed legitimate concerns about the long-term effects of rent control.”
In the 31-page complaint, filed in the Western Division of the federal court for the Central District of California, the property owners allege that the current ordinance as adopted by the city “violates the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” and that approval was rushed due to what Cappello described as a process “rife with personal and political bias.”…