Kalaydjian v. City of Los Angeles

Opinion

THOMPSON, J.

Plaintiff Avedis Kalaydjian appeals from a judgment in favor of the City of Los Angeles finding that Kalaydjian was not entitled to recover amounts paid under section 47.06 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, entitled “Tenant Relocation Assistance Where Apartments Are to be Converted.”

In December 1979, the Los Angeles City Council adopted several measures requiring landlords who converted apartments to condominium or other specified uses to furnish relocation assistance to displaced tenants. Section 47.06, subsection (C), of the Los Angeles Municipal Code provides, in part, that “[i]n connection with the conversion of a building into a condominium, . . . hotel or . . . use permitted in any commercial zone, the landlord shall provide relocation assistance to each tenant in accordance with Subsection D.” Subsection (D), subparagraph 1 a (4), provides for a two-level relocation assistance fee of $2,500 to “qualified tenants” and $1,000 to all other tenants. “Qualified tenants” are defined as tenants over the age of 62, disabled tenants and tenants with dependent minor children.

Kalaydjian purchased a 10-unit apartment house which he planned to convert to a commercial use. He paid $14,500 in relocation expenses to tenants in the building. Kalaydjian later sought reimbursement of the $14,500 from the city.

Kalaydjian contends that Los Angeles Municipal Code section 47.06 violates the equal protection and due process clauses of the federal and state Constitutions. It is asserted that the means used to compensate tenants are unreasonable because the amounts exacted bear no relationship to each tenant’s actual cost of relocation. It is further asserted that the measure creates an arbitrary classification, violative of equal protection, by excluding “luxury housing.”

“So far as the requirement of due process is concerned, and in the absence of other constitutional restriction, a state is free to adopt whatever

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economic policy may reasonably be deemed to promote public welfare, and to enforce that policy by legislation adapted to its purpose. The courts are without authority either to declare such policy, or, when it is declared by the legislature, to override it. If the laws passed are seen to have a reasonable relation to a proper legislative purpose, and are neither arbitrary nor discriminatory, the requirements of due process are satisfied . . . .”