Wins

A commercial landlord sued the County of Los Angeles claiming that the County’s commercial eviction moratorium imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic violated the Contracts Clause in the U.S. Constitution.  Although other COVID-19 eviction moratoria cases have asserted Contracts Clause challenges, this one was fairly unique:  The landlord entered the subject contract in August 2020, five months after local governments already had started imposing eviction moratoria.

GMSR argued, and the Ninth Circuit agreed in a memorandum disposition, that the imposition of commercial eviction moratoria in August 2020 was foreseeable and therefore not contrary to the landlord’s reasonable expectations.  The landlord’s claim therefore could not get past the first step of the U.S. Supreme Court’s two-part test for Contract Clause claims: showing that the County’s eviction moratorium substantially impaired his contractual relationship.  Although the court’s memorandum disposition does not create federal circuit precedent, it is persuasive authority for state court actions involving Contract Clause challenges.

See the Court of Appeals’ Memorandum Disposition.  (Iten v. County of Los Angeles (9th Cir., Mar. 7, 2025, No. 24-2974) 2025 WL 733236.)