LEGAL BRIEFS
HOUSINGNEWSREPORT
NYC Landlords Sue City Over Rent Freeze New York City landlords sued Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration in Manhattan over a rent freeze imposed by the Rent Guidelines Board. The Rent Guidelines Board voted on June 27 to have no rent increase for one-year leases and a 2 percent hike on two-year leases. The nine-member board approved the move in a 7-to-0 vote, with two abstentions. The trade group Rent Stabilization Association, which represents 25,000 landlords across the city, together with four Brooklyn landowners, filed its suit in Manhattan Supreme State Superior Court. The landlords own a million apartments, “most of which are rent stabilized,” the petition states. Claiming the rent freeze was politically motivated — because the mayor, a Democrat, appointed the full board — the Rent Stabilization Association calls for a court order annulling the vote and declaring it unconstitutional under the Fifth and 14th Amendments, alleging violations of the separation-of-powers doctrine and the taking of private property for public use without just compensation.
Airbnb Agrees to Collect Hotel Taxes in LA Landlords across the nation are under assault by cities attempting to stop them from renting their properties for short-term stays, through websites such as Airbnb, HomeAway and vrbo.com. Starting in August, Airbnb will start collecting lodging taxes from Los Angeles rental hosts, providing more than $5 million in revenue to the city of Los Angeles. The city of Los Angeles and the city council negotiated the deal with Airbnb to collect a 14 percent tourist tax. Airbnb has reached similar agreements with 190 other cities, states, or other taxing jurisdictions around the world to collect taxes from its hosts, more than $85 million in tax revenue for cities worldwide, according to Airbnb. Los Angeles is also seeking to strike such agreements with other online rental platforms.
Sources: Airbnb, Los Angeles Times
Supreme Court to Hear Fannie Mae Suit
Sources: Courthouse News, New York Daily News
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on June 28 to consider a wrongful foreclosure case against the Federal National Mortgage Association — known as Fannie Mae — on whether the case can only be filed in federal rather than state courts. The case, Lightfoot v. Cendant Mortgage Corp, . involves two California women who sued Fannie Mae after foreclosure actions. The case addresses a specific clause in Fannie Mae’s charter, which says that the GSE can “sue and be sued, and to complain and defend, in any court of competent jurisdiction, state or federal.” A federal judge dismissed all claims, siding with Fannie Mae, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed on appeal, ruling in Fannie Mae’s favor.
The Supreme Court will be briefed in the fall, with arguments likely later this year or in early 2017.
Sources: Courthouse News, SCOTUS
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