Kavanau v. Santa Monica Rent Control Board, 16 Cal. 4th 761 (1997)

Citation: Kavanau v. Santa Monica Rent Control Board, 16 Cal. 4th 761 (1997)
Parent Document: Kavanau v. Santa Monica Rent Control Board, 16 Cal. 4th 761 (1997)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 1997-08-26
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/5607899/kavanau-v-santa-monica-rent-con... ↗

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Rent control laws must be “reasonably calculated to . . . provide landlords with a just and reasonable return on their property.” (Birkenfeld v. City of Berkeley (1976) 17 Cal.3d 129, 165 [130 Cal.Rptr. 465, 550 P.2d 1001] (Birkenfeld).) In order to satisfy this standard, rent control laws incorporate any of a variety of formulas for calculating rent ceilings. (See Baar, Guidelines for Drafting Rent Control Laws: Lessons of a Decade (1983) 35 Rutgers L.Rev. 723, 781-817 (Guidelines) [discussing various rent control formulas].) “Rent control agencies are not obliged by either the state or federal Constitution to fix rents by application of any particular method or formula.” (Carson Mobilehome Park Owners’ Assn. v. City of Carson (1983) 35 Cal.3d 184, 191 [197 Cal.Rptr. 284, 672 P.2d 1297] (Carson).) Rather, “selection of an administrative standard by which to set rent ceilings is a task for local governments . . . and not the courts.” (Fisher v. City of Berkeley (1984) 37 Cal.3d 644, 681 [209 Cal.Rptr. 682, 693 P.2d 261] (Fisher); cf. Power Comm’n v. Pipeline Co. (1942) 315 U.S. 575, 586 [62 S.Ct. 736, 743, 86 L.Ed. 1037] (Pipeline Co.) [“The Constitution does not bind rate-making bodies to the service of any single formula or combination of formulas.”].)

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