The following is a submission from the City of Santa Monica.
The Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office Consumer Protection Unit has filed a lawsuit against the landlord of a rent-controlled property, alleging violations of local housing discrimination law.
In the complaint, the city alleges that landlord Lawrence Boydston intentionally discriminated against his tenants based on disability and source of income. The suit also alleges that he refused to accept a Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing, or VASH, voucher that would help his two tenants, 77-and 80-year-old Army veteran brothers, afford their rent. He also refused their request for a reasonable modification to install a chair lift — to be paid for by the Office of Veterans Affairs — that would enable the disabled brothers to safely go up and down the stairs in their two-storied apartment.
Santa Monica’s Housing Anti-Discrimination Ordinance prohibits discrimination by landlords against tenants with disabilities and VASH and Section 8 voucher holders. Violation of the ordinance carries significant potential penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.
The protections under the ordinance include:
- Requiring landlords to make reasonable modifications and accommodations when necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a rental unit.
- Prohibiting landlords from making any statements that indicate a preference, limitation or discrimination with respect to a disability or source of income.
- Prohibiting landlords from making a rental unit unavailable to a person because of that person’s disability or source of income.
- Refusing to accept rent from a current tenant in the form of a VASH voucher, Section 8 voucher, or similar rental subsidy program, where refusing to accept includes failure or an unreasonable delay in filling out and returning any necessary paperwork.
“Housing vouchers are a vital tool for providing affordable housing and combatting homelessness and housing insecurity,” Deputy City Attorney Jonathan Frank said. “Refusing a voucher is a form of illegal housing discrimination enforced by our office, as is refusal to grant a reasonable modification such as a chair lift for disabled tenants. We take these violations seriously.”
The lawsuit seeks a court order that Boydston refrain from future discrimination, receive training in fair housing and landlord-tenant laws, grant the disabled tenants’ reasonable modification request, and accept their VASH voucher. The suit also seeks to recover monetary damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and other relief.
The city’s Housing Anti-Discrimination Ordinance was amended in 2015 to prohibit voucher discrimination, and the law has been actively enforced by the city since it was upheld after a legal challenge in 2017. This is the third lawsuit brought by the City Attorney’s Office Consumer Protection Unit to enforce the city’s prohibition on voucher discrimination, and the first case involving a VASH voucher. Two previous cases resulted in judgments requiring the landlord defendants to accept tenants’ Section 8 vouchers.
The City Attorney’s Office Consumer Protection Unit has also assisted more than 40 households with vouchers in securing housing after landlords initially refused to accept their vouchers, and accepts complaints regarding voucher discrimination online at www.smconsumer.org.
The complaint, City of Santa Monica v. Lawrence Boydston, Case No. 25SMCV04269, is available here.
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