Santa Ana Rent Control Update (9/24/21)

Santa Ana City Council Advances Rent Control & Just Cause Eviction Ordinances to Final Votes

More than 150 AAOC members and other housing industry partners made phone calls, submitted emails, and/or showed up at Santa Ana City Hall this past Tuesday night (September 21st) to FIGHT for your business interests and to try stopping rent control and just cause eviction ordinances from immediate adoption and implementation by the Santa Ana City Council.

THE GOOD - The city tried and failed to ram this proposal through on an urgency basis which would have resulted in the ordinances taking effect immediately. Thanks to the efforts of AAOC and its housing industry partners, there were not enough city council votes to pass the ordinances in this manner.

THE BAD - The city council still voted 4-3 to advance the ordinances to a second reading, where it is expected to pass unless we can pressure the city to abandon this reckless proposal.

THE UGLY - The city council meeting lasted until the very early morning - with the first seven hours spent on public comments on this item. More than 100 speakers expressed their opinions in-person, by telephone, and online via Zoom. Tenants' rights activists rallied a large number of people to speak in favor of rent control and just cause evictions, reciting provably false claims, making race-based assumptions and arguments, and engaging in an abundance of virtue signaling, including:

• Tenants are being evicted for not paying rent;
• Rents are increasing by $500 or more per month, several times a year;
• Landlords are attacking residents to scare them against supporting rent control;
• Rich, white landlords only care about the rent and not their tenants.

NOW IS OUR TIME TO FIGHT BACK!!!

• AAOC and its housing industry partners are hitting back HARD -
• AAOC is legally challenging the city's process
• Our coalition is exposing the dishonest way that the industry was treated
• Together we are strategizing ways to fight this politically

NOW IS YOUR TIME TO GET INVOLVED!

• Call and email the Santa Ana City Council and urge their reconsideration of the proposal.
• Attend the Santa Ana City Council Meeting on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, and express your opposition to the proposal.
• Contact rental property owners, managers, and investors who would be hurt by this policy and get them involved.

DONATE TO AAOC's POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
We are in the fight of our lives, and regardless of what we do, WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

Legal fights cost money. Campaigns are expensive. Public Outreach is consuming.

Without your support we can't win this fight - and activists are already planning where to take this next. We need to kill this in Santa Ana - before it pops up everywhere.

This is YOUR chance to save YOUR industry - CONTRIBUTE TODAY!

Online contributions to AAOC's Political Action Committee can be made by clicking HERE.

Contributions by check, payable to AAOC Multi-County Property Rights PAC, should be mailed to AAOC (525 Cabrillo Park Drive, Suite 125, Santa Ana, CA 92701).

AAOC will keep you apprised as this campaign effort develops. We are ready to fight like hell to stop rent control from gaining a foothold in Orange County. However, this fight cannot be won without your support.

If you have any questions or you wish to discuss other ways that you can assist AAOC in the defense against rent control, contact Chip Ahlswede at advocacy@aaoc.com.