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Home My WebLink AboutCorrespondence - Item 19Flores, Dora From:Bulmaro Vicente <boomer@chispaoc.org> Sent:Tuesday, March 3, 2026 1:56 PM To:eComment Subject:Public Comment CC 3.3.26 - Item 19 Attachments:3.3.26 Chispa Item 19- Letter of Support.pdf Attention: This email originated from outside of City of Santa Ana. Use caution when opening attachments or links. Hi, Please find Chispa's letter of support for Item 19 In Solidarity, Boomer Policy and Political Director | Chispa e: boomer@chispaoc.org c: 714.747.4271 1505 E 17th Street Suite 117 Santa Ana, CA 92705 Chispa is building a political home for young Latinxs in Orange County! Please consider making a donation to help us build our casita. Chispa is a project of Tides Advocacy, a 501c4 non-profit organization. 2 March 3, 2026 Mayor Amezcua and Members of the Council City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 Re: Item 19 – Second Reading and Adoption of an Ordinance Prohibiting Anti-Competitive Automated Rent Price-Fixing Dear Mayor Amezcua and Members of the Santa Ana City Council, On behalf of Chispa, I write to express our strong support for the adoption of the ordinance prohibiting anti-competitive automated rent price-fixing in the City of Santa Ana (City). We appreciate the Council’s leadership—particularly Councilmember Lopez for introducing this item—and for advancing this important policy during its first reading. We respectfully urge the Council to approve the ordinance on second reading. Santa Ana is a renter-majority city where housing affordability remains one of the most pressing challenges facing our residents. According to the American Community Survey, more than 55 percent of Santa Ana households are renters, and over half of those renters are cost-burdened—spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing. The increasing use of algorithmic pricing tools in the rental market threatens to further worsen these conditions by enabling landlords to rely on shared nonpublic data to maximize rents and artificially inflate prices. These tools transform competition into coordinated price-setting by recommending rental rates based on aggregated market data rather than genuine market competition. National estimates indicate that pricing algorithms have already added billions of dollars in additional rent costs for tenants. For working-class families in Santa Ana, many of whom are already struggling with rising housing costs, these practices only deepen housing instability and displacement pressures. The ordinance before you takes an important step to address this issue by prohibiting the sale, licensing, and use of algorithmic devices that rely on nonpublic competitor data to set rental rates or occupancy levels. By doing so, the City will protect renters from anti-competitive practices that distort the housing market and undermine affordability. Santa Ana would also join a growing number of cities across the country taking action to protect renters from algorithmic rent collusion. Local leadership is critical as federal and state responses continue to develop and legal challenges unfold. In the meantime, cities must act to ensure their residents are not subjected to unfair and anti-competitive rent-setting practices. For these reasons, Chispa respectfully urges the City Council to adopt this ordinance and reaffirm the City’s commitment to protecting tenants and promoting fair housing practices in Santa Ana. Thank you for your leadership and consideration. Best, Bulmaro Vicente, Policy and Political Director Flores, Dora From:Alejandra Perez Matus <alejandrap@kennedycommission.org> Sent:Tuesday, March 3, 2026 4:51 PM To:!City Clerk Cc:Jacki Valentin; Cesar C.; Kennedy Commission Team Attachments:Santa Ana_ Rent Price Fixing.docx.pdf Attention: This email originated from outside of City of Santa Ana. Use caution when opening attachments or links. Hi, On behalf of the Kennedy Commission we would like to submit a letter of public comment for Item Agenda Item #19 – Second Reading and Adoption of an Ordinance Prohibiting Anti-Competitive Automated Rent Price-Fixing (Ordinance No. NS-3090). Attached is the letter. Thanks, Alejandra Perez Matus Project Manager 6 March 03, 2026 Mayor Valerie Amezcua Santa Ana City Council Santa Ana City Hall 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 RE: Agenda Item #19 – Second Reading and Adoption of an Ordinance Prohibiting Anti-Competitive Automated Rent Price-Fixing (Ordinance No. NS-3090) To The Honorable Mayor Amezcua and Members of the City Council, The Kennedy Commission (the Commission) is a broad-based coalition of residents and community organizations advocating for the production of homes affordable for families earning less than $30,000 annually in Orange County. Since 2001, we have successfully partnered with jurisdictions across the county to create housing and land-use policies that increase affordable housing opportunities for lower-income working families. The Commission writes in strong support of Agenda Item #19 and the adoption of Ordinance No. NS-3090 prohibiting anti-competitive automated rent price-fixing software within the City of Santa Ana. This ordinance represents an important and timely step toward protecting renters from unfair market practices that contribute to rising housing instability and displacement pressures. Santa Ana remains a predominantly renter community, with more than half of occupied housing units occupied by renters and a majority of those households experiencing housing cost burdens. As rental prices continue to outpace income growth, many working-class families face increasing difficulty maintaining stable housing. The use of algorithmic rent-setting software that relies on nonpublic competitor data to recommend rental pricing undermines fair market competition and contributes to artificially inflated rents, further exacerbating the City’s affordability crisis. We commend the City for recognizing that local action is necessary to safeguard residents while federal litigation and regulatory enforcement continue to evolve. While ongoing legal actions against companies utilizing these technologies may eventually establish broader protections, Santa Ana renters cannot be expected to wait for uncertain outcomes while rents continue to rise. By prohibiting the sale, licensing, and use of these algorithmic devices, the City establishes clear local protections that prioritize housing stability and tenant wellbeing. Importantly, this ordinance builds upon Santa Ana’s demonstrated leadership in advancing renter protections, including adoption of rent stabilization and just cause eviction policies. Together, these efforts reflect a comprehensive approach to addressing housing affordability and ensuring that technological tools are not used in ways that undermine community stability or worsen existing inequities in the rental market. For these reasons, the Kennedy Commission respectfully urges the City Council to adopt Ordinance No. NS-3090 at its second reading. Taking action to prevent anti-competitive rent-setting practices affirms the City’s commitment to protecting residents and promoting a fair and transparent housing market. 1 Thank you for your continued leadership in advancing policies that support housing stability for Santa Ana residents. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (949) 250-0909 or cesarc@kennedycommission.org. Sincerely, Cesar Covarrubias Executive Director 2