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Orozco, Norma <br />From: <br />Yoselinda Mendoza <yoselinda.mendoza@gmail.com> <br />Sent: <br />Tuesday, May 19, 2020 4:02 PM <br />To: <br />eComment <br />Subject: <br />NonAgenda Public Comment --Extend eviction moratorium and rent freeze <br />Dear Mayor and City Council, <br />I hope this email finds you all well. Thank you for responding to the immediate needs of the community, by <br />ensuring to enact an eviction moratorium and keeping the rent freeze for our residents in Santa Ana. These <br />protections are super important in prioritizing the immediate needs of the community here in Santa Ana, which is <br />keeping our community safe, housed, and providing some relief from financial insecurity. I am emailing you to take <br />the next steps in ensuring we maintain these very same priorities. <br />Many of my loved ones have experienced significant reduced hours of work and some have lost their jobs. Given <br />the history of the state in failing to provide support to communities of color and other marginalized communities, <br />this pandemic has left most of them with exacerbated financial precarity. I am calling on you all to take action now. <br />As an elected official bythe people, I hope you act for the people once more. I ask that you:1) expand the <br />eviction moratorium to June 30th, 2) define and extend the rent freeze that is compliant with Costa <br />Hawkins and has a 6-month time period after the Governor's emergency orders are lifted, and to establish <br />3) a tenant's right to sue their landlord for violating their protections during COVID-19. <br />Extending the eviction moratorium would coincide with the June 30th moratorium on foreclosures put in place by <br />Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and Federal Housing Administration. And we've seen this happen in neighboring cities <br />Eke Anaheim, demonstrating that this is possible here in Santa Ana! Further, extending the rent freeze is super <br />important; it is ridiculous to have tenants experience rent increases while they are struggling to catch up on rent. <br />Extending the rent freeze, that is also compliant to Costa Hawkins, is possible because yet again we've seen this <br />happen in places like Oakland. Finally, there should be a clear accountability structure that penalizes landlords if <br />theyfail to complywith the protections put in place for tenants. LA has done something similar where if a landlord <br />if found to be illegally evicting someone, they are given a fine. We should have this also here in Santa Ana. <br />Thank you for reading. <br />Best, <br />Yosi Mendoza <br />