Sep 3, 2008

Page Mill Properties celebrates win

Judge rules rent stabilization board acted improperly, is improperly constituted

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

Attorneys for Page Mill Properties are celebrating a legal victory they say throws the legality of East Palo Alto's Rent Stabilization Board into question.

On Friday, San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Quentin Kopp ruled in favor of claims by Page Mill Properties' management company, Woodland Park Management LLC, that the rent stabilization board has not been properly constituted for more than a year and acted improperly when it raised apartment registration fees past the June 1 deadline to do so.

Woodland Park Management's attorney, Andrew Zacks, argued in court that the board illegally raised the registration fees from $135 to $240 in late June and told Page Mill Properties to pay the new amount. Landlords with more than four units in the city must pay the per-unit fee.

Zacks also claimed that the board is improperly constituted since it has no landlords, as required by a city ordinance.

Interim City Attorney Valerie Armento said Zacks is placing too much weight on the absence of landlords on the board. Local landlords who own more than four units have not applied to serve on the board in recent years, she noted.

Armento also said the crux of the judge's decision was the timing of the fee increase, not the makeup of the board.

"The way we read this is that the fee remains at $135, instead of the $240," she said.

East Palo Alto and Page Mill Properties have been involved a complicated legal battle since the landlord increased rents nearly a year ago at 1,350 of its roughly 1,700 apartment units.

The landlord announced another wave of 850 hikes this spring, which took effect over the summer. Most tenants received increases of less then 10 percent, but dozens of rents were raised by 30 and 40 percent, some twice. One woman, a single mother, was slapped with a 108 percent increase. Page Mill Properties has declined to explain the discrepancies.

The city and landlord will face off again in court Friday over evidence the city is seeking to support its claim that the rent hikes are illegal. The city wants documentation on the hikes, while Page Mill Properties is requesting a protective order, claiming its tenants' privacy is at stake. The first hearing in the city's case is set for Sept. 12.



E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.