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May 1, 2020 <br />Mayor Miguel Pulido and Councilmembers Vincente Sarmiento, David Penaloza, <br />Jose Solorio, Phil Bacerra, Juan Villegas and Cecilia Iglesias <br />Dear Mayor Pulido and Councilmembers, <br />On April 7, 2020, the City of Santa Ana mandated a rent freeze. We are very <br />concerned about and opposed to this punitive measure. We believe it is unlawful. <br />We implore you to rescind this draconian measure. <br />Apartment firms have been bracing for an uptick in late payments and skips and are <br />gravely concerned about their ability to keep up with their financial responsibilities, <br />which remain unchanged as more jurisdictions adopt renter protections with limited <br />relief for housing providers. Owners and operators rely on rental income to pay <br />employee payroll, mortgage payments, taxes, insurance and, importantly, use the <br />funds to maintain continuity of essential services for apartment communities as many <br />renters must shelter in place. <br />In addition to those pressing concerns, our state faces a housing affordability crisis — <br />brought on by a housing supply shortage and crumbling infrastructure —long before <br />the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. If lawmakers do not act to support landlords as <br />well as renters, this ongoing crisis, paired with the economic downfall brought on by <br />COVID-19, will only worsen. Apartment operators, employees and residents need <br />additional economic relief to avoid a total collapse of the rental housing sector, which <br />contributes $3.4 trillion annually to the U.S. economy. <br />For this reason, we are asking you to create more direct rental assistance for landlords <br />and the rental industry. This needs to be a direct emergency rental assistance program <br />particularly for those who do not presently receive housing assistance. Freezing rents <br />is not the answer. <br />Like other Americans, housing providers have financial obligations to meet on a <br />regular basis and this crisis is impacting large, medium and small housing providers, <br />but could be especially devastating to smaller housing providers who ultimately make <br />up the majority of rental property owners. These small businesses often function on <br />low margins that cannot sustain substantial losses of rental income for any period of <br />time. This could result in a reduction of housing <br />quality and services as owners make tough decisions about reserves and reducing <br />expenses. <br />