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Property Law Keyed to Kurtz
Pennell v. City of San Jose
Citation:
485 U.S. 1, 108 S. Ct. 849, 99 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1988)Facts
In 1979, the City of San Jose enacted a rent control ordinance to address housing needs, including preventing excessive rent increases and alleviating hardships on tenants. The ordinance allowed landlords to automatically increase rent by up to 8% annually. For increases above 8%, a hearing was required before a Mediation Hearing Officer to determine if the increase was “reasonable under the circumstances.” The hearing officer was required to consider seven factors, including the “hardship to a tenant.” If the officer determined that a proposed increase would constitute “an unreasonably severe financial or economic hardship” on a tenant, the officer could disallow the excess increase. Pennell, who owned 109 rental units, and the Tri-County Apartment House Owners Association challenged the ordinance, particularly the tenant hardship provision, as facially unconstitutional under the Takings Clause and the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
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