Ratner-Stauber v. City of Los Angeles

The American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) filed a class action federal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleging that the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department have both allowed and created conditions effectively taking private property in violation of the Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution and for creating public nuisances.

The thrust of the claims on behalf of AFLC’s client, Adom Ratner-Stauber, a substantial property owner-manager, is that the City and police department have failed to control homelessness and that the homeless encampments occupying his property and surrounding properties have caused, and continue to cause, significant property damage and financial loss.

Examples of the City’s failure to police homelessness as set forth in the complaint include the following:

  • The City allows homeless individuals with motor homes, tents, garbage, and other items constantly to impair, and frequently to completely block, the free flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic to his property.
  • The City allows homeless individuals with their encampments, motor homes, trash and other items predominately, and at times entirely, to block access to his property.
  • The City allows homeless individuals—members of the public—to freely access his private property.
  • The City allows homeless individuals to break into his property at night to destroy the property and dump trash and other filth on his private property.
  • The City allows homeless individuals to steal water and electricity from his properties and the City poles supplying electricity to the properties.  One such theft of electricity caused a motor home to catch on fire, which then spread to his property and burned down a tree.
  • Mr. Ratner-Stauber had to expend considerable funds to build blockades to prevent sewage and other filth from flowing into his property from the nearby homeless encampments during rainstorms.
  • Mr. Ratner-Stauber has contacted the City about these issues numerous times, yet the City allows homeless individuals to continue to access his private property, block access to his private property, and severely impair access to his private property.
  • All of this diminishes the value of the property and decreases the income derived from the property as he has had to offer reduced rents, and he continues to struggle to gain or retain tenants.

The lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief and damages.

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