The California Appellate Law Podcast

750 Tenants, One Nudist Colony, and a Draining Anti-SLAPP: Fran Campbell on California's Hottest Landlord-Tenant Battles

• Tim Kowal & Jeff Lewis

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0:00 | 28:47

Why do tenants' rights cases end up on appeal—and what happens when the Ellis Act gets weaponized? Tenants' rights appellate attorney Fran Campbell joins Jeff Lewis as a guest host while Tim Kowal is on vacation, sharing hard-won insight from landlord-tenant litigation, mobile home park law, and the appellate front lines of California's housing crisis.

Key points:

  • The Ellis Act and Barrington Plaza: Campbell's firm challenged Douglas Emmett's attempt to invoke the Ellis Act to remove roughly 750 tenants, raising a statutory interpretation question under Gov. Code § 7060.7.
  • Supersedeas strategy: Collecting rent from remaining tenants while an appeal is pending may inadvertently create new periodic tenancies — a risk Campbell says practitioners often overlook.
  • Berk v. Choy: The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling could further erode California's anti-SLAPP protections in federal court, with significant implications for practitioners.
  • Social media as abuse: A June 2026 Second District opinion holds that social media conduct can qualify as cognizable abuse under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act.
  • Conflict waivers and fee agreements: Failing to obtain a conflict waiver can void not just a fee agreement but its arbitration clause too — per Jane Doe v. McGrath.

Tenants' rights practitioners: Have you faced an Ellis Act claim where the landlord's intent was the deciding issue? Share your experience in the comments.