Chicago Bd. of Realtors v. City of Chicago, 86 C 7763.
| Citation | 673 F. Supp. 224 |
| Decision Date | 04 November 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 86 C 7763.,86 C 7763. |
| Parties | The CHICAGO BOARD OF REALTORS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. The CITY OF CHICAGO, a municipal corporation, et al., Defendants, and Metropolitan Tenants Organization, et al., Intervenors. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
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Clifford L. Weaver, Kenneth E. North, Steven M. Elrod, Maureen A. Crowley, Burke, Bosselman & Weaver, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiffs.
Herbert Caplan, Robert Dargis, Judson H. Miner, Acting Corp. Counsel, City of Chicago, Chicago, Ill., for defendants.
William P. Wilen, Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, Chicago, Ill., for intervenors.
Seven years ago, the Chicago City Council began considering legislation to meet what it considered to be a need to improve landlord and tenant relationships. Finally, less than two months ago on September 8, 1986, it passed, by a vote of 42-4, the "Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance", now codified as Chapter 193.1 of the Municipal Code of Chicago. It is a comprehensive scheme of regulating landlord-tenant relationships. About half of its provisions were to take effect on October 15, 1986. The other half of them are scheduled to take effect after January 1, 1987.
This case challenges the constitutional validity of that Ordinance. The plaintiffs are property owners, property managers, real estate brokers and organizations which represent the interests of the owners, managers and brokers of multiple apartment structures. Also appearing as a plaintiff is the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry, whose stated purpose is to foster and promote the business interests of its 42,000 business and professional members. The defendants are the Mayor of Chicago and the City itself.
Plaintiffs raise various federal and state constitutional challenges. Jurisdiction over the federal claims is asserted under 28 U.S.C. § 1331(a) and venue is asserted under 28 U.S.C. § 1391. Plaintiffs also request that I assume jurisdiction of the state constitutional claims under the doctrine of pendent jurisdiction.
The matter was brought into this court 20 days ago on October 14, 1986. In their original complaint plaintiffs alleged nine separate Counts. They claim that the Ordinance impermissibly interferes with their constitutionally protected property interest to control the use and operation of their residential property, free from unduly burdensome governmental regulation. Concurrently with the filing of their complaint, plaintiffs moved for a Temporary Restraining Order, and on the same day an emergency hearing was held. Because the Ordinance was to become effective the next day, and in view of the seriousness of the allegations raised in the complaint, the limited time allowed by the plaintiffs' emergency motion for me to study the issues there raised, and my belief that a short period suspending the operation of the Ordinance would not measurably disserve the public interest, I granted a Temporary Restraining Order staying the effective date of the Ordinance for 10 days.
The parties were ordered to appear and did so on October 17, 1986, and at that time, after having given the complaint and the motion for a Temporary Restraining Order a preliminary study, I was prepared to hear the arguments of the parties. This, however, became unnecessary because the parties agreed to an extension of the Temporary Restraining Order to cause it, by stipulation of the parties, to expire at the end of this hearing on November 3, 1986. This would provide the parties the necessary time to brief, on a very abbreviated schedule, the arguments on several motions they wished to make including the request for a Preliminary Injunction. Also appearing by counsel before me on October 17 were three individuals and nine organizations, to whom I will refer as Representatives of Tenants' Interests. They petitioned for leave to intervene alongside the City and the Mayor as defendants, claiming an interest as a matter of right in the enforcement of the rights and remedies the Ordinance provides for the renters of residential property in Chicago.
On October 17, 1986, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, stating a claim of unconstitutionality in ten Counts. The amended complaint added a Count under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the traditional color of law civil rights statute. The plaintiffs in their amended complaint seek a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief. Before me now are three fully briefed motions. The Representatives of Tenants' Interests petitioned from the outset for leave to intervene. Their request was allowed. On October 20, they moved under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) to dismiss the amended complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The defendants all join in this motion. The plaintiffs moved on October 22, 1986 for a Preliminary Injunction. I will address each of the motions in that order.
The Representatives of Tenants' Interests have petitioned to intervene as a matter of right under Fed.R.Civ.P. 24(a)(2) or, in the alternative, permissively under Fed.R.Civ.P. 24(b). Rule 24(a)(2) establishes four requirements for intervention as of right: "(1) timely application; (2) an interest relating to the subject matter of the action; (3) potential impairment, as a practical matter, of that interest by the disposition of the action, and (4) lack of adequate representation of the interest by the existing parties to the action." Meridian Homes Corporation v. Nicholas W. Prassas & Company, 683 F.2d 201, 203 (7th Cir.1982). Each requirement must be met; if one is not, then intervention as a matter of right must be denied. Under the fourth requirement, the Representatives of Tenants' Interests must show a lack of the adequate representation of their interest by the existing parties to the action. Meridian Homes, 683 F.2d at 205 (citing Trbovich v. United States, 404 U.S. 528, 538 n. 10, 92 S.Ct. 630, 636 n. 10, 30 L.Ed.2d 686 (1972)). Here, the defendants and the Representatives of Tenants' Interests have the same ultimate objective. It is to have this court dismiss the plaintiffs' amended complaint or, alternatively, declare the Ordinance constitutional and deny the extraordinary relief sought by the plaintiffs. I observe in passing that they have joined in briefing the issues before me. At the same time, it is a reasonable presumption that the City Council and the Mayor who were responsible for the enactment of the Ordinance have sufficient expertise in the matters addressed by their legislation to adequately protect the interests of the people out of concern for whom they pursued the enactment of it, and intervention as a matter of right would be improper under Fed.R.Civ. P. 24(a)(2).
The more intriguing question is one not raised by the parties. It grows out of the description of the organizations seeking to intervene. Because it could be jurisdictional it ought at least be mentioned. Rule 24 presumes that a proposed intervenor first would meet the requirements of standing under Article III of the Constitution. Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S. 737, 104 S.Ct. 3315, 3324, 82 L.Ed.2d 556 (1984); Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc., 454 U.S. 464, 471, 102 S.Ct. 752, 757, 70 L.Ed.2d 700 (1982); United States v. SCRAP, 412 U.S. 669, 687, 93 S.Ct. 2405, 2415, 37 L.Ed.2d 254 (1973). Although the true relationships between the parties the applicant organizations say they represent and the organizations themselves is not clear, and though it may be that at best they are interested bystanders seeking to vindicate "ideological" values, I was convinced at the outset of the case that they could address themselves with a sufficient degree of expertise in the general field of landlord-tenant relations in Chicago to be of assistance without delaying the proceedings, whether they appear permissively under Rule 24(b) or as amicus curiae. See United States v. City of Pittsburg, California, 467 F.Supp. 1080, 1082 (D.C.Cal. 1979), aff'd, 661 F.2d 783 (9th Cir.1981). See also Romasanta v. United Airlines, Inc., 537 F.2d 915, 917 (7th Cir.1976), aff'd sub nom. United Airlines, Inc. v. McDonald, 432 U.S. 385, 97 S.Ct. 2464, 53 L.Ed.2d 423 (1977). It is sufficient for the issues raised by the plaintiffs' objections that I am pleased to have the parties appearing before me allegedly on behalf of Chicago's tenants, but that I hold that they are not here as Intervenors as a matter of right under Rule 24(a). I will next address the defendants' motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
Gaines v. Lane, 790 F.2d 1299, 1303 (7th Cir.1986). The reason for this rule is apparent; a facial challenge to the constitutionality of legislative action may depend solely upon a reading of the challenged provision and whether it meets the test appropriate to the specific...
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Patterson v. City of Bellmead
...convinces the district court that the regulation is plainly within the bounds of the Constitution."Chicago Bd. of Realtors v. Chicago, 673 F. Supp. 224, 228 (N.D. Ill. 1986), aff'd, 819 F. 2d 732 (7th Cir. 1987) (quoting Gaines v. Lane, 790 F.2d 1299, 1303 (7th Cir. 1986)). The Chicago Boar......
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