Santa Ana Passes Rent Control Law

The City of Santa Ana became the archetypal successful Orange County to walk a rent control ordinance Oct. 19 aft weeks of heated assembly gathering debates.

The motion, passing 4-3 soon earlier midnight connected Tuesday, prevents landlords from raising rent much than 3 percent annually, oregon 80 percent of the alteration successful the user terms index, whichever is less.

Mayor Vicente Sarmiento and Councilmembers Jessie Lopez, Thai Viet Phan, and Johnathan Ryan Hernandez voted successful favour of the motion.

“I enactment rent power due to the fact that it’s the 1 instrumentality we person to support existent residents, longtime residents who person obscurity other to go, but to the Inland Empire, and Riverside,” Phan said during a assembly meeting.

Officials successful favour of the rent power ordinance anticipation much tenants volition enactment successful their homes without worrying astir yearly rent hikes, portion those opposed accidental the determination could crook distant aboriginal developers.

Mayor Pro Tem David Penaloza, and Councilmembers Nelida Mendoza, and Phil Bacerra voted against the ordinance.

“Rent is ever going to beryllium high, careless whether we walk this oregon not, and it’s a superior interest occupation to our community. However, I request to marque sure, arsenic a subordinate of this legislative assemblage that the decisions we marque are sustainable, not conscionable implicit the adjacent month, not conscionable implicit the adjacent six months, but implicit the adjacent 10 [to] 15 years.”

The rent power ordinance was primitively intended to combat the expiration of the statewide moratorium connected evictions, Bacerra said; however, this approved ordinance provides nary specified assurance.

“What’s disappointing is that galore residents came earlier the assembly with the mendacious content that this projected argumentation is going to halt evictions,” Bacerra said during the meeting.

“This policy, again, is not going to; truthful shame connected those who’ve led folks to judge that was gonna happen. They provided them with mendacious promises and mendacious hopes.”

While his colleagues judge rent power volition champion assistance the residents of Santa Ana, Penaloza does not foresee the rent situation lessening.

“It’s a occupation that’s ne'er going to spell away,” Penaloza said during a assembly meeting.

Mendoza proceeded to pass the assembly and residents of the imaginable impacts of rent control, including a shortage of affordable lodging which tin unit galore retired of the city.

She further explained rent power to beryllium an costly instrumentality for the metropolis arsenic a committee would request to beryllium formed astatine an expense.

The city’s rent power instrumentality goes into effect connected Dec. 19.