Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/rent-control/)
The ban, initially set to expire at the end of this month, will remain in effect through June 30, after council members voted to direct interim City Manager Greg Garcia to extend the original order — enacted in March — through his emergency powers.
State Senator John Moorlach, R – Costa Mesa, writes that his colleagues in the state legislature should step back and reconsider Assembly Bill 828, by Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, which among other things, would force most property owners to cut residential rents.
The potential repeal of the rent freeze — which lasts through May 31 — prompted uproar across Santa Ana as soon as it was scheduled for a discussion.
It would be the latest city to join a growing list banning evictions throughout the county amid the coronavirus public health emergency. Many residents in Little Saigon area live in rental units with many others living in accessory dwelling units and mobile homes.
Santa Ana housing advocates say local landlords are rushing to evict tenants or raising rents to get ahead of a new California rent control law, and calling on the City Council to follow other cities across the state in enacting protections for tenants until the state law takes effect.
Seniors living at the Rancho La Paz mobile home park won’t find out until August if the Fullerton City Council will step in and help them manage rents with either a temporary rent control ordinance or a rent relief fund.
Anaheim City Council members fought each other and tabled the mobile home rent control issue, but not before Councilman Jose Moreno was able to reschedule it to April 16 — Fullerton council members debated and directed staff to research and come back with potential solutions early July.
Hairo Cortes, executive director for a new political action committee in Santa Ana called Chispa and Santa Ana activist Idalia Rios both talk about why city residents need to enact reasonable rent control limits, such as a 5 percent cap on rent increases as well as upcoming state and local ballot drives on the issue.