“No State shall … pass any … law impairing the Obligation of Contracts” (Article 1, Section 10, US Constitution)…” Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation” and…Violations of Substantive Due Process (5th Amendment US Constitution).
On May 8, 2020, Attorney Doug Michie of Ventura filed a complaint with the 3rd District of the U.S. Court in California against Gov. Newsom’s Executive Orders banning landlord rent collections and evictions of tenants in rental properties in California due to the speculative possibility in December 2019 of an epidemic of coronavirus. Michie cited as the legal basis of his complaint the above-cited provisions of the United States Constitution.
Michie filed the complaint on behalf of his wife, Oksana Michie, who owns residential income properties in Cambria, Cayucos and Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo County, which have suffered rent loss and plausible total loss in value since Newsom’s Order. Michie also filed his suit as a class action matter on behalf of all affected landlords in California.
The 3rd District of the U.S. Court forwarded Michie’s complaint to the California Judicial Council, which Gov. Newsom delegated to handle any lawsuits arising from the coronavirus emergency orders. The Judicial Council is chaired by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye.
In an email to California Globe, Michie wrote:
“I am happy to report that, coincidently after service of the lawsuit on the Chief Justice of our Supreme Court, the California Judicial Council is voting to sunset its Emergency Rule 1 (as well as Emergency Rule 2). Before the attached voting circular was sent out yesterday, I emailed our State Senator Hanna-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) to request that she vote to rescind this rule. The sunsetting of this additional 90-day free rent period is a great step forward for landlords”.
