Section 1805

Citation: Section 1805
Parent Document: Santa Monica Properties v. Santa Monica Rent Control Board, 203 Cal. App. 4th 739 (2012)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 2012-02-16
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/5810885/santa-monica-properties-v-santa... ↗

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To overcome this result, RCB argues that a “decrease in operating expenses is presumed” whenever a landlord reduces a service that costs money to provide, such as a heated hot tub or sauna. We do not see language in the RCL establishing or supporting such a presumption, and RGB’s reliance on Ocean Park, supra, 114 Cal.App.4th 1050 in this vein is not persuasive. Ocean Park did not address the issue of evidentiary presumptions under the RCL. In Ocean Park, a landlord who acted under the “guise” of doing construction work “simply tore out existing facilities and left them in a dilapidated, unsafe, and unusable condition” for a period of “well over two years.”11 (114 Cal.App.4th at p. 1069.) An RCB hearing examiner determined that the noted conditions justified a rent reduction, and, when the matter reached Division Four of our court, our colleagues understandably agreed: “The amounts deducted for loss of these facilities represented a reasonable adjustment .... Dirt, debris, trenches, exposed electrical wires, missing window panes, paper-covered floors, and the other defects and hazards described by the tenants and [RGB’s] inspectors are no less obnoxious because they are the result of deliberate demolition rather than refusal to *755perform maintenance. [The landlord] presented no evidence of a construction-related reason or any reason for failing to keep the facilities in operation and the premises in good repair. The award was justified.” (Id. at pp. 1069-1070.)

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