Item 21 - Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance Amendments - Phan

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City Council Meeting Date August 29, 2023 Subject Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance Amendments Councilmember-Requested Item Title Discuss and consider directing the City Manager to prepare an ordinance for City Council’s consideration to amend the City of Santa Ana’s Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance to require supermajority approval of the total number of Councilmembers for certain future amendments to the ordinance. Discussion After many years of painstaking advocacy by residents, the City of Santa Ana’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance (“RSO”)1 and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance (“JCEO”)2 were adopted in fall 2021, and amended in fall 2022,3 as the first city-wide rent stabilization ordinance in Orange County. Since its adoption, the City of Santa Ana has adopted a $100 annual Rental Registry fee4 to establish a Rental Registry, support a Rental Board, and hire staff to support programs implementing the provisions of the RSO and JCEO. Since its adoption, rent stabilization ordinances have been contemplated and adopted throughout the United States. Most recently, the White House lauded Santa Ana’s Rental Registry as a model for supporting renters who are increasingly facing evictions, homelessness, and displacement due to skyrocketing rents.5 The RSO is one tool in Santa Ana’s toolbox to help address the housing crisis. Rent stabilization 1 Ordinance No. NS-3009. 2 Ordinance No. NS-3010. 3 Ordinance No. NS-3027. 4 Resolution No. 2023-031 (adopted June 6, 2023). 5 The White House, “White House Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Takes Action to Protect Renters,” accessed July 27, 2023, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/07/27/fact-sheet- biden-harris-administration-takes-action-to-protect- renters/#:~:text=Santa%20Ana's%20new%20rental%20registry,and%20supports%20to%20qualified%20household s.