Buena Park officials discussed the possibility of establishing rent control in the city March 28, and if passed, would be the second in Orange County to do so following Santa Ana.
Currently, landlords in the city cannot raise rent more than 5 percent per year, plus the percentage of inflation, or no more than 10 percent—whichever is lower.
The discussion of bringing rent control to the city showed no signs of opposition.
During public comment, Joshua Collins, the founder of Homeless Advocates for Christ, said such was critical.
“I have a friend here whose rent went up about 80 percent in eight years. That’s 10 percent a year,” he said. during the public comments portion of the meeting.
He told councilors to fight for the issue and criticized Orange County for being behind on its growing homelessness.
“We need to fight to make sure that we don’t create more homeless people,” he said.
Councilwoman Susan Sonne requested staff to return with more specific examples and data on how rent control could be implemented.
“I think we need to do something to assist with rental stabilization so we don’t increase homelessness in this city and people have a sense of security that the roof they have over their heads is not going to be ripped from them for spurious reasons,” she said.
One political organizer from Santa Ana-based Chispa, a political activist group that advocates for Latinos, agreed.
“I’ve seen first-hand through my neighbors and friends how rent control allowed them to stay in their neighborhoods,” Santa Ana resident Bulmaro Vicente said.
Santa Ana enacted rent control in 2021—limiting annual increases to 3 percent—which is now being legally challenged by The Apartment Association of Orange County.
The organization argues in its lawsuit that rent control law prevents landowners from “receiving a fair and reasonable return,” on their properties, among other concerns.
Another item of contention the lawsuit seeks is relief from what is known as rental registrations—now required in Santa Ana—which mandate landlords provide property, income, and tenant information for each unit they rent to the city.
During the meeting, Buena Park officials also showed interest in registering rentals, despite possible retaliation from the Apartment Association over the same matter.
If approved, the ordinance would likely only apply to rental properties 15 years or older, to not discourage new development in the city, officials said.
“Obviously we are short of housing [but] we also need to protect our citizens that are renting,” Councilwoman Joyce Ahn said. “We need to make sure there’s going to be incentive or some sort of rights for new developers to develop more housing.”
The issue will be taken up again at a future council meeting, the date of which has yet to be determined.
