Santa Ana Landlords Face Deadline for Rent-Control Registry

Santa Ana landlords must pony up $100 per unit to register with the city’s new rent control database.

The city enacted a rent control ordinance last fall, forcing landlords to register their rental units in the database set up to keep track of rent hikes, the Orange County Register reported.

Orange County’s first rent control law caps increases at 3 percent a year or 80 percent of inflation, whichever is less. It also includes “just-cause” protections outlining when landlords can force tenants out.

Effective Sept. 1, the allowable rent increase for certain rental units in Santa Ana will be 2.54 percent for the next year. The rate will be set annually by the City Council.

The city will create a Rental Housing Board to oversee enforcement and help resolve disputes between landlords and tenants. A board website and online application for positions could go live this month.

The City Council could appoint members of the rent board by November, according to Paul Eakins, spokesman for the city.

Landlords can post their rent-controlled apartments in an online registry for an annual cost of $100 per unit — which can be split between landlords and tenants.

The registration fees will fund the city’s rent-control program and Rental Housing Board, as well as other fees. The registry will help the city monitor compliance with the ordinance, officials said.

Landlords can file a “fair return” petition if they feel the rent cap is not enough for them to get a reasonable return on their investment, or a capital improvement petition can be filed to allow rent to be increased to pay for large property projects such as roof repairs.

Tenants can file a petition to have their rent decreased if certain amenities that were once offered are taken away. Some 55 percent of Santa Ana residents are renters.

“We want to make sure that everybody is on as much of an equal playing field as possible, especially when we saw the hikes in rent and evictions and everything that’s happened over the last few years. It has only gotten worse,” Councilwoman Than Viet Phan told the Register.

“I think, really, the goal is to make Santa Ana residents feel more stable in their homes long term.”

This year, three “gateway cities” in L.A. County’s South Bay region have passed rent control ordinances after landlords started jacking up rents. The City of Maywood approved a rent control ordinance, following the lead of nearby Bell Gardens and Cudahy

Pasadena voters passed a rent control measure in November, which survived a constitutional challenge by the California Apartment Association.

A measure to further tighten rent control across the state will appear on the November 2024 California ballot.

— Dana Bartholomew