Foster v. Britton, 242 Cal. App. 4th 920 (2015)

Citation: Foster v. Britton, 242 Cal. App. 4th 920 (2015)
Parent Document: Foster v. Britton, 242 Cal. App. 4th 920 (2015)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 2015-12-01
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/3159177/foster-v-britton/ ↗

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   C. The Board Did Not Exceed its Authority in Promulgating Rule 6.15C
       In Rule 6.15C, the Rent Board established regulations governing “Master
Tenants,” defined as “a landlord who is not an owner of record of the property and who
resides in the same rental unit with his or her tenant.” (Rule 6.15C, subd. (1).) Of
particular interest here, the regulation provides that if a master tenant does not sublease
the entire rental unit, “then the Master Tenant may charge the subtenant(s) no more than
the subtenant(s) proportional share of the total current rent paid to the landlord by the
Master Tenant for the housing and housing services to which the subtenant is entitled
under the sub-lease. A master tenant’s violation of this section shall not constitute a basis
for eviction under Section 37.9.” (Rule 6.15C, subd. (3).) The rule authorizes either the
master tenant or the subtenant to petition the Rent Board for an adjustment of the rent.
(Rule 6.15C, subd. (3)(b).)
       Britton does not challenge the entirety of this regulation—indeed, Britton refers to
the limitation on the rent a master tenant may charge as “admirable legislation”—but
rather directs his challenge to the final sentence, which provides that a master tenant may
not be evicted for charging subtenants more than their proportional share of the rent.
Britton argues that it “makes no logical sense” to prevent the landlord from enforcing the
master tenant’s obligation, and that a violation of that obligation “should be enforceable
by eviction.” Britton contends the Board impermissibly created an exception to the Rent
Ordinance’s grounds for eviction and that the exception is inconsistent with the purposes
of the ordinance.
       We disagree. We have already explained that the Supervisors delegated to the
Rent Board the authority to promulgate regulations governing the grounds for eviction,

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