Community Groups and Labor Join Legal Fight to Defend Measure ULA

Measure ULA is the largest affordable housing ballot initiative passed in Los Angeles history. It was drafted and led by the United to House LA coalition and passed in November 2022 with overwhelming support from nearly 58% of L.A. voters. The measure will generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually via a one-time real estate transfer tax on sales of properties over $5 million. These funds will go toward programs that provide financial assistance to low-income seniors, rental assistance for tenants, the purchase of apartments and hotels for affordable housing, the construction of new affordable housing using both established and innovative models, and legal assistance for tenants threatened with eviction.

In December 2022, two special interest groups – the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA) – filed a lawsuit challenging the measure in court. Their lawsuit names the City of Los Angeles as a defendant as well as “all persons interested in the matter of Measure ULA.”  In January 2023, Newcastle Courtyards LLC and the Mani Benabou Family Trust filed additional challenges in state and federal court. Their state action was consolidated with the Howard Jarvis and AAGLA lawsuit.

In February 2023, community groups, affordable housing providers, and organized labor joined the legal fight to defend Measure ULA against the lawsuit. Public Counsel and Irell & Manella LLP represent the Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing (SCANPH), Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2015, who were deeply involved in the development of Measure ULA and represent constituencies that would benefit from the measure’s programs.

In September 2023, federal district court Judge John Kronstadt dismissed the federal challenge filed by Newcastle Courtyards and the Mani Benabou Family Trust. Judge Kronstadt determined that the federal court lacked jurisdiction under the Tax Injunction Act and thus dismissed the challenge. With this ruling, the court threw out one challenge to the will of the City’s voters. In November 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal.

In October 2023, state superior court Judge Barbara Scheper granted the Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings filed by Public Counsel and Irell and the City of Los Angeles, dismissing both remaining state challenges with prejudice. Judge Scheper specifically found that the plaintiffs’ complaints “fail to state facts sufficient to support any claim against any Defendant.” In December 2025, the Second District California Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal.