Santa Monica Wins Lawsuits Against Landlords In Tenant Relocation Cases

SANTA MONICA, CA — The city has just won multiple lawsuits against landlords who refused to provide mandatory help to tenants who were forced to move from their residences.

The Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office said March 12 that it has obtained judgments in two cases filed against landlords who failed to pay tenants' temporary relocation benefits.

Two cases were brought under the city’s Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance, which requires landlords to pay temporary relocation benefits to tenants who are displaced due to health and safety concerns.

Through the judgments, tenants are to receive more than $50,000 in unpaid relocation fees, and the landlords are be required to pay over $40,000 in penalties and attorneys’ fees to the city.

In City of Santa Monica v. Eric Todd Goldie, Case No. 22SMCV01058, the city alleged that the defendant landlord, Eric Goldie, failed to pay temporary relocation benefits to a mother of four and her daughters after the Code Enforcement Division ordered him to do so based on the landlord undertaking unpermitted construction work that left the unit uninhabitable.

The case was brought in Los Angeles Superior Court when Goldie continued to refuse to pay the mandatory relocation benefit, even after he lost an administrative appeal challenging the relocation order and failed to properly challenge the administrative ruling in state court.

The court’s ruling upheld the city’s relocation order for the third time. In the final judgment, the court ordered Goldie to:

• Pay $16,119, the unpaid relocation benefit plus interest, to the tenant and a $500 civil penalty to the city; and
• To comply with the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance at any property he owns or will own in Santa Monica.
• In a later order, the court ordered payment of $40,700 to cover the city’s attorneys’ fees.

In City of Santa Monica v. 7th Street Partners, LLC, et al., the city had said that defendant landlord Christoper Charles "Bo" Drake and affiliated companies refused to provide temporary relocation payments to tenants in two units after SoCalGas red tagged their heaters and Code Enforcement determined the units were uninhabitable due to the lack of heat in winter, and ordered relocation.

The City Attorney’s Office brought the case in L.A. Superior Court after Drake failed to timely challenge the relocation order but still refused to pay the mandatory relocation benefit.

As part of the settlement with the city, Drake and the other defendants agreed to:

• Pay $35,929, the unpaid relocation benefit plus interest, to the two tenants and $1000 in civil penalties to the city; and
• Comply with landlord-tenant laws, including the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance, the Tenant Harassment Ordinance, Rent Control and Just Cause for Eviction protections, and habitability and repair obligations.

“In an unforgiving rental market, (the city's relocation ordinance) allows families to stay near their family, schools and work during necessary repairs," Deputy City Attorney Denise McGranahan said. "There is a process in place to ensure fairness, including a right to appeal a decision by code enforcement, but if landlords forego the process or are not successful in an appeal, they cannot simply refuse to provide the benefit."