Ali v. City of Los Angeles

In Ali v. City of Los Angeles (1999) 77 Cal.App.4th 246, the city's action of denying a demolition permit for a hotel that was substantially destroyed in a fire, based on a local ordinance prohibiting demolition of such housing violated the Ellis Act. ( 7060, subd. (a).) The court distinguished Landgate, based on that court's discussion of whether the actions of the regulating government entity advance a legitimate government purpose. The Ali court held that the city's action violating state law was arbitrary and unreasonable in light of the earlier case of Javidzad v. City of Santa Monica (1988) 204 Cal. App. 3d 524, that held a city ordinance governing rental property was preempted by the Ellis Act. (Ali, supra, 77 Cal.App.4th at p. 255.)