Following its removal of the lawsuit from State to Federal court, the City and County of San Francisco moved for judgment on the pleadings of the San Francisco Apartment Association’s challenge to the City’s new “buyout legislation”.
The SFAA challenged the legislation just days before its operative date, on several constitutional grounds. Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the case on the City’s motion, finding that the buyout legislation did not violate San Francisco landlords’ rights to free speech, due process, equal protection or privacy, ultimately characterizing the burdens under the legislation as reasonably related to the City’s legitimate interest in protecting tenants by remediating disparities in bargaining position. SFAA is appealing the decision to the Ninth Circuit.
