(Tampa Free Press)—The Liberty Justice Center filed an amicus brief Thursday urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up GHP Management Corporation v. City of Los Angeles, a case challenging Los Angeles’s COVID-era eviction moratorium as a violation of property owners’ Fifth Amendment rights.
In response to the pandemic, Los Angeles enacted ordinances in early 2020 that effectively barred property owners from evicting tenants during an extended local emergency. The city argued the moratorium was critical to preventing mass homelessness and protecting public health during the crisis.
However, property owners contend the measures overstepped constitutional boundaries. The moratorium prevented landlords from collecting unpaid rent, reclaiming their property for personal use, or evicting tenants who violated lease agreements, including those who allowed unauthorized occupants or pets.
GHP Management Corporation, a Los Angeles-based rental company, claims it suffered over $20 million in losses due to unpaid rent under the moratorium. The company filed suit in 2021, arguing the ordinances violated the Fifth Amendment’s “takings” clause, which prohibits the government from commandeering private property without just compensation.
A lower court dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the moratorium did not constitute a “taking” since it did not involve permanent physical control of the properties. GHP Management is now petitioning the Supreme Court to reconsider.
The Liberty Justice Center’s amicus brief supports the petition, asserting that Los Angeles’s eviction moratorium unlawfully stripped landlords of their right to exclude others from their property—a fundamental aspect of property ownership.
“Los Angeles’s eviction moratorium threw Californians’ constitutional rights out the window by effectively transferring control over a property from that property’s owner to the government, without providing just compensation,” said Jeffrey Schwab, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center.
Schwab emphasized the broader implications of the case: “The Supreme Court should grant the petition and hold that perpetually occupying someone’s property is a taking that requires just compensation under the Fifth Amendment.”
If the court agrees to hear the case, it could set a precedent that redefines the limits of government authority during emergencies and strengthens protections for property owners nationwide.