NHLP Files Amicus Brief in Key Takings Case

NHLP has submitted a friend of the court brief in Guggenheim v. City of Goleta, a case challenging the constitutionality of the city’s mobilehome rent control ordinance. The case will be heard by the en banc Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in late June. A panel of the Court previously held that ordinance constitutes a taking. If left to stand, the ruling could provide a means for park owners everywhere to bring new challenges to rent ordinances.

NHLP’s brief focuses on the important role that mobilehome parks play as a source of affordable housing and the protections that rent control ordinances offer to low-income and elderly mobilehome owners. NHLP submitted the brief on behalf of amici AARP, California Coalition for Rural Housing, Housing California, Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California, Tenants Together, and R. Keith Traphagen, a mobilehome owner. NHLP partnered with Meyers Nave, Legal Services of Northern California, California Rural Legal Assistance, and Public Interest Law Project in drafting the brief. A copy of the brief is available here.