Our work

YIMBY Law first filed suit in 2019 against Simi Valley, CA when the City Council turned down a proposed 108-unit residential care facility for seniors with 68 assisted living units and 40 memory care units. The City Council claimed that the project did not qualify as housing under California’s Housing Accountability Act. We disagreed, arguing that homes do not need individual kitchens to be considered housing; the court officially sided with us on May 17th, 2021.

Since then we have filed and won nine additional lawsuits. The lawsuits listed here are active.

The project at 450 O’Farrell Street is a 316-room group housing project in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, a redevelopment of a church’s property, that includes 48 on-site below market rate homes. The City is violating a number of laws in having disapproved this project: the Housing Accountability Act, the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (SB-330) and the Permit Streamlining Act.
The court agreed that the city broke state housing law in this case, and we are continuing to argue that this is an example of the city’s pattern of illegally delaying and denying homes from being approved. Read more.
469 Stevenson is a proposed 495-unit project that would replace a department store valet parking lot in San Francisco’s Theater District with a 27-story residential building that includes 73 on-site below market rate and 45 off-site below market rate homes.
The Superior Court ruled the city did not violate state housing law regarding the project, but we are continuing to argue our claim that San Francisco is demonstrating a pattern of illegally delaying and denying housing projects including the one at 469 Stevenson. We reserve the right to appeal the decision about the project while we litigate this issue. Read more.
On March 8. 2023, YIMBY Law sued the city of Sausalito, California following the city’s adoption and self certification of a housing element we believe is noncompliant with state law. The main issues are that Sausalito did not do an Environmental Impact Report for their Housing Element, which is a CEQA violation, and their site inventory contains too many unrealistic sites. Read more.
YIMBY Law supports San Mateo County’s effort to convert a hotel into permanent supportive housing in Millbrae, CA. On January 8th, 2024, we answered a lawsuit filed by the City of Millbrae against San Mateo County wherein the city uses Article 34 of the California Constitution to argue the project should not move forward without a vote. YIMBY Law aims to defend the homes and ensure dozens of unhoused families and seniors have stable, affordable homes. YIMBY Law and YIMBY Action condemn the City of Millbrae for attempting to halt the project. Read more.
YIMBY Law petitioned for court intervention against the City of Redondo Beach on 8/4/2023. The City has passed policies and procedures that subverted the Permit Streamlining Act and the Housing Crisis Act, ignored laws concerning express permitting of low-income housing developments, and denied housing applicants their vesting rights. Read more.
YIMBY Law has filed suit against the city of Los Angeles for illegally delaying a 100% affordable housing project located on Winnetka Ave. The project falls under the original form of Mayor Karen Bass’s Executive Directive 1 (ED1) which streamlines 100% affordable housing projects. Read more.
YIMBY Law has filed suit against the city of Los Angeles for illegally delaying a 100% affordable housing project with a total of 190 homes. The project, located on Wilbur Ave in the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles, falls under the original form of Mayor Karen Bass’s Executive Directive 1 (ED1) which streamlines 100% affordable housing projects. This marks YIMBY Law’s second lawsuit against the city for illegally delaying affordable housing projects in single-family-only neighborhoods. Read more.

Winning lawsuits means more homes are built for people.

Achieving compliance with new pro-housing laws is dependent upon the existence of enforcement mechanisms, something that has only developed in recent years due to YIMBY organizing and support.

Years of housing law neglect and obstructionist behavior (NIMBYism) have taken a toll on housing production and have caused housing shortages for people at all income levels in communities across the United States.

YIMBY Action chapters and members, state and local lawmakers, and pro-housing community organizations advocate for housing laws to address the housing shortage and strengthen compliance. These laws provide clear accountability measures and guidelines for cities to follow so that more homes are built and more people are housed.

The critical next step to achieving housing for all is to ensure these guidelines are followed. Cities and counties now have a job to do and YIMBY Law is here to make sure they do it.