Judge rules against developer and in favor of L.A. on emergency eviction protections
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael J. Guittard has issued a decision that essentially decides the case between developer Jeff Smith and his partner Michael Schulman, who own a major property in the East Los Angeles neighborhood of El Monte. They have been fighting over a two-story building near the busy MacArthur Boulevard and Normandie Avenue intersection.
The property, one-half of which is subject to a long-term lease with Smith’s company as a retail store, is worth about $1.4 million — well over the $2 million the pair is asking for.
Smith wants to evict Schulman from his storefront and have his other building, which is subject to a long-term lease, turned into a parking lot in order to relocate his customers.
The judge has said in his decision that he will not block the eviction from Schulman, because the tenant has not demonstrated he will suffer irreparable harm.
The judge is also denying Schulman any emergency eviction relief he sought. So the fight will continue, as Schulman will now have to argue to Judge Guittard that Schulman is entitled to some emergency relief because his lease expires April 26, 2018, and he will need to make a new lease or be forced out of business because of the pending litigation.
Schulman and Smith were arguing the building was too valuable to be vacant, and that they were in financial distress.
The fight over the building, which sits on a dead-end street that leads to the heart of El Monte, has been fought for decades.
The pair have been going around the town, yelling at each other and trying to find a common ground, trying to negotiate. The judge issued an injunction against the pair last year. Schulman’s lawyers then offered a package deal that would have given the pair $100,000 each, plus $10,000 in costs and
