By Alan Murphy and Angela Luh, September 20, 2021
In a major recent decision, the California Court of Appeal rejected a city’s interpretation of what constitutes an “objective” standard under the Housing Accountability Act (HAA), Government Code section 65589.5, and upheld the constitutionality of the law and amendments that strengthened it.[1] The opinion in California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund v. City of San Mateo reinforces and upholds significant limitations imposed by the HAA on local consideration of housing development applications.