Correspondence - #33 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Orozco, Norma From: Selena Pineda <info@sg.actionnetwork.org> Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2021 1:12 PM To: eComment Subject: Santa Ana Needs Rent Stabilization NOW - In support of Agenda Item 33 - Sep 21 City Council Meeting Santa Ana City Council Santa Ana City Council Santa Ana City Council, Dear Mayor Vicente Sarmiento and the City Council Members of Santa Ana, I urge you to vote in favor of Agenda Item #33, and thereby helping to enact rent stabilization and just cause eviction protections in Santa Ana. Correspondingly, I urge you to take the necessary steps to create a rent board to help enforce these protections after they become law. This ordinance was drafted by, and for residents of Santa Ana with the goal of protecting the most vulnerable working-class tenants in our community. Federal and state COVID-19 related eviction moratoriums and additional protections have either ended or will expire by the end of September 2021. Likewise, the federal unemployment benefit programs under the CARES Act ended on September 4th, 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over; the city of Santa Ana has been the hardest hit in all of Orange County, with almost 900 COVID-19 confirmed deaths and over 48,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases to date. Yet, renters are being unjustly evicted and facing predatory rent increases, all while accumulating rent debt which they are still liable for. Figures show 89% of rental assistance funds have not been distributed at the federal level. In Santa Ana, minimum wage workers earning $14 an hour would have to work 104 hours a week to afford a modest 1-bedroom apartment. Renters with rent debt and renters who have exhausted their savings to avoid rent debt cannot continue to face excessive and unpredictable rent increases otherwise they will be permanently displaced from our city. Now more than ever, Santa Ana needs REAL renter protections to safeguard our community. This ordinance will: Cap rent increases at 3% or 80% of CPI (rate of inflation), whichever is lower for multi -units built before 1995. Limit rent increases to a max once per year.