Taylor v. Rancho Santa Barbara

206 F.3d 932, 2000 WL 290247
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedMarch 21, 2000
DocketNo. 98-56204
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 206 F.3d 932 (Taylor v. Rancho Santa Barbara) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. Rancho Santa Barbara, 206 F.3d 932, 2000 WL 290247 (9th Cir. 2000).

Opinion

GOODWIN, Circuit Judge:

Michael Shawn Taylor, age 41, bought a mobile home that was located in a mobile [934]*934home park, which rents the lot under the privately owned unit to qualified renters. When Taylor learned that spaces would not be rented to persons under 55 years of age, he sued in the district court to challenge as unconstitutional the state and federal statutes that permit park operators to enforce age restrictions. He appeals the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) dismissal of his claim. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

The federal Fair Housing Act and California’s Mobilehome Residency Law permit otherwise qualified mobile home parks to refuse to rent to tenants aged under 55 years. Apparently for the first time in this circuit, these laws are challenged as inconsistent with the equal protection accretions to the Fifth Amendment, for 42 U.S.C. § 3607(b)(2)(C), and the Fourteenth Amendment, for California Civil Code § 798.76.

I. BACKGROUND

As apparently is common among mobile home parks, Rancho Santa Barbara rents to mobile home owners the spaces upon which the homes rest. Taylor found and purchased a home to his liking, and then applied for a rental agreement. His application was rejected because of his age. As published in park rules, Rancho Santa Barbara restricts occupancy to persons 55 years old or older, and thus Taylor found that he had 14 years to wait before he could move into his unit.

The parties agree that the park’s age rule is permitted by both federal and state statutes. The Federal Housing Act (FHA), as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (FHAA) and the Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA), permits landlords to restrict occupancy to persons 55 years of age or older. See 42 U.S.C. § 3607(b)(2)(C). California’s Mobi-lehome Residency Law (MRL) authorizes management of a mobile home park to limit residence on the basis of age, provided that the age restriction complies with the FHA. See Cal. Civ.Code § 798.76. The MRL operates as an exception to California’s general proscription of age discrimination in housing. See Cal. Civ.Code §§ 51.2, 51.3(c)(4).

Taylor argues that the MRL violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and that the FHA, as amended by HOPA, violates the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, which applies equal protection standards to the federal government. See Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, 420 U.S. 636, 638, 95 S.Ct. 1225, 43 L.Ed.2d 514 (1975) (holding that the approach to Fifth Amendment equal protection claims is “precisely the same” as under Fourteenth Amendment). The district court held that both statutory schemes survived equal protection challenge as founded upon rational policy decisions by the respective legislative bodies, and granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6).

We review the correctness of the judgment as a question of law. See Johnson v. Knowles, 113 F.3d 1114, 1117 (9th Cir.1997). The facts alleged in the complaint are deemed admitted and true for purposes of the appeal. See id.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Rational-Basis Review

We apply rational-basis review to the challenged legislation. Age classifications are not constitutionally suspect, and legislative distinctions based upon age warrant only traditional rational-basis review. See, e.g., Kimel v. Florida Bd. of Regents, — U.S. -, 120 S.Ct. 631, 645-47, 145 L.Ed.2d 522 (2000); United States v. Jenkins, 734 F.2d 1322, 1327 (9th Cir.1983) (upholding different treatment accorded youth offenders). Furthermore, Taylor alleges no fundamental right that is infringed by the challenged legislation.

Applying rational-basis review, the classification survives equal protection challenge if there is a rational relationship [935]*935between the disparity of treatment and some legitimate governmental purpose. See Heller v. Doe, 509 U.S. 312, 320, 113 S.Ct. 2637, 125 L.Ed.2d 257 (1993). Under rational-basis review, a legislature “need not actually articulate at any time the purpose or rationale supporting its classification. Instead, a classification must be upheld if there is any reasonably conceivable set of facts that could provide a rational-basis for the classification.” Id. (internal quotation marks and string citations omitted). Courts reviewing for a rational basis must accept a legislature’s generalizations even when there is an imperfect fit between means and ends; “mathematical nicety” is not required. Id. at 321, 113 S.Ct. 2637.

B. The Federal Fair Housing Act (As Amended)

In 1968, Congress enacted the FHA to prohibit home sellers and landlords from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, national origin, or (later) gender. See Title VIII of Pub.L. 90-284 (Apr. 11, 1968); 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq. In 1988, Congress enacted the FHAA, which amended the FHA and prohibited housing discrimination on the basis of familial status, but Congress provided an exemption for retirement housing communities. Under the FHAA, a housing community could discriminate on the basis of familial status if (1) 80% of the dwellings were occupied by at least one person age 55 or older and the community provided “significant services and facilities” for older persons; or if (2) the housing community was reserved exclusively (100%) for persons age 62 or older. See 42 U.S.C. § 3607(b)(1), (2).

The “significant services and facilities” requirement sparked controversy and litigation in the years following the FHAA’s enactment in 1988. The Department of Housing and Urban Development issued no fewer than three regulatory attempts to clarify the clause, but the requirement continued to generate public scrutiny. The central criticism was that the exemption for older persons’ housing had “proved difficult to implement” and resulted in numerous lawsuits and administrative complaints. Covey v. Hollydale. Mobilehome Estates, 116 F.3d 830, 833 (9th Cir.1997).

Subsequently, Congress by a 424 to 5 margin enacted HOPA and eliminated the “significant facilities and services” requirement. See Pub.L. No. 104-76, 109 Stat. 787 (Dec. 28, 1995).

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Opinion Number
Louisiana Attorney General Reports, 2003
Michael Shawn Taylor v. Rancho Santa Barbara
206 F.3d 932 (Ninth Circuit, 2000)

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Bluebook (online)
206 F.3d 932, 2000 WL 290247, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-rancho-santa-barbara-ca9-2000.