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Mayor Pulido and City Council Members May 21, 2019 Page 3 of 3 An additional 92,738 affordable rental homes are needed to address Orange County's housing needs for lower income renters.13 Furthermore, according to the 2019 Orange County Point in Time count, 6,860 people experienced homelessness in Orange County on a single night in January 2019. This is a drastic increase from the 2017 Orange County Point in Time count which documented 4,792 homeless people,14 indicating that the crisis is worsening. According to the Cost Study of Homelessness, close to $300 million was spent to address homelessness in Orange County during 2014 to 2015. Studies have shown that housing coupled with supportive services is a cost-efficient intervention that will safely house individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. With high housing costs and the severe lack of affordable homes, mobile homes have provided an alternative option to living in a stable affordable home. However, there are serious concerns regarding the excessive rent increases and the potential negative impacts it will have on residents. A majority of the mobile home park residents are comprised of lower income seniors on fixed incomes and lower income working family households who will face great challenges in paying the new rent increases. They may not be able to afford the rent increases and might have no choice but to move elsewhere, and, unlike popular belief, mobile homes are not really mobile. It is extremely hard for mobile homes to be transported and accepted at other parks. Thus, mobile home park residents will not only be displaced, but they will lose the money invested in their homes. These rent increases will displace residents in the best of cases or force them into homelessness in the worst. The City of Santa Ana should follow the lead of other jurisdictions in the state that have taken the necessary steps to address the housing and homelessness crisis faced by their residents. Jurisdictions in Los Angeles County have recently taken action to combat the steep rent increases afflicting their residents. On April 9th, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors approved the extension of a temporary cap on rent increases of 3% annually and "just cause" eviction protections in unincorporated areas through 2019.15 Additionally, on March 5th, the City of Inglewood approved an emergency ordinance that would prevent rent increases for a period of 45 days with the possibility of a year -long extension. 16 The Commission looks forward to partnering with the City to increase and preserve affordable homes for lower income households in the City. Please keep us informed of any updates and meetings regarding the City's action to effectively address rent increases in mobile home parks. If you have any questions, please free to contact me at (949) 250-0909 or cesarc@,kemedycommission.org. Sincerely, Cesar Covarrubias Executive Director "Orange County's Housing Emergency and Proposed Solutions, California Housing Partnership Corporation, p. 1, May 20t8. 14 Orange County Homeless Population Jumps to Nearly 7,000, Survey Shows, Las Angeles Times, April 25, 2019. U L.A. County supervisors vote to extend rent increase cap through 2019," The Los Angeles Times. April 19, 2019, 16 Inglewood votes to limit rent hikes and halt evictions spurred by development," The Los Angeles Times. March 6, 2019