Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance

About the Ordinance

The Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance (the “Ordinance”) is a local law that limits rent increases to the lower of 3 percent per year, or 80 percent of the percent change in the Consumer Price Index (“CPI”) over the most recent 12-month period for certain residential rental units and mobilehome spaces in the City of Santa Ana. The Ordinance also provides “just cause” eviction protections for most tenants that occupy a residential real property or mobilehome for 30 days.

Read the ordinance

Ordinance Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Owners are required to provide written notice to tenants

Property owners are required to provide written notice of the Ordinance and tenants’ rights at commencement of a lease or as part of any notice to increase rent. The notice shall be written in the language that the Owner and Tenant used to negotiate the terms of the Tenancy (e.g., Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Korean), as well as English and in a form prescribed by the City.

View and download the notices

Key provisions of the Ordinance

• The rent stabilization provisions of the Ordinance regulating the amount of rent that may be charged does not apply to units expressly exempt under the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act or the Mobilehome Residency Law.
• Only one rent increase is allowed in a 12-month period, and it cannot exceed the allowable rent increase in effect for that period.
• The City will publish the maximum allowable rent increase no later than June 30 of each year, which shall be effective on September 1 of that year.
• There may be circumstances where owners may be able to raise tenants’ rent over 3 percent, subject to approval of a petition for relief from the cap.

Petitions

Please find information below about the petitions available to landlords and tenants pursuant to the Ordinance. The applicant must complete the petition and include all supporting documentation. After the petition is submitted, it will be reviewed to make sure it contains all necessary information. A petition will only be accepted when it has been submitted in substantially completed form with all material information necessary to reach a decision on the petition. Once the petition is accepted, an impartial Hearing Officer will conduct a hearing to act upon the petition. The hearing will be held within 60 days of acceptance.

Please click the links below to download and complete a petition.  Delivery of a petition is accepted in the methods below:

• Upload the petition on the Contact Us section in our main page.
• Mail the petition to
  • Attention: Rent Stabilization Division
  • 20 Civic Center Plaza M-25
  • Santa Ana, CA 92702

Petitions are also available in Chinese, Korean, and Tagalog. Please request a petition in one of these languages through the Contact Us submission field. 

Owner fair return petition

An owner of residential real property or a mobilehome park owner may submit a Fair Return Petition requesting a rent increase in excess of the published allowable rent increase in order to obtain a fair and reasonable return on their property, as set forth by the criteria in the Ordinance.  The applicant shall bear the burden of establishing that, without such an increase, they will not realize a fair and reasonable return on the property.  Section 8-3142 of the Ordinance details the requirements for a Fair Return Petition.

Capital improvement petition 

An owner of residential real property or a mobilehome park owner may submit a Capital Improvement Petition requesting a pass-through cost to the tenants to cover certain expenses incurred by the landlord to complete capital improvements for the rental unit. The Ordinance allows for the consideration of expenses incurred by the landlord to complete capital improvements that were paid for and completed after November 19, 2021. Please reference Section 8-3143 of the Ordinance for more information.

Tenant petition

A tenant may submit a Tenant Petition on any one (1) or more of the following grounds as set forth in Section 8-3144:

1. To request review of a rent increase in excess of the maximum allowed rent increase;
2. To request a reduction in rent based on decreased housing services;
3. To request a reduction in rent based on failure of the landlord to maintain a habitable premises, including health, safety, fire, or building code violations;
4. To contest a capital improvement cost as an unauthorized or excessive pass through; or,
5. For any other violation of the Ordinance by the landlord

Just Cause Eviction provisions

Key provisions

• After 30 days, an owner shall not terminate a tenancy without just cause, which shall be stated in a written notice.
• “Just cause” includes certain at-fault and no-fault causes summarized below.
• Before issuing a notice to terminate for just cause, the owner shall first give notice of the violation with a time period for the tenant to fix the violation(s).
• Under a no-fault just cause termination, the owner shall either provide 3 months of relocation assistance or waive payment of rent for the final 3 months of the tenancy.
• The just cause provisions of the Ordinance shall not apply to certain types of exempt residential property, including housing produced in the last 15 years; deed-restricted affordable housing; hotel and transient occupancy; hospital and care facilities; dormitories; and other shared living quarters. Please refer to Section 8-3120(e) for the specific requirements of these exemptions.

Under the Just Cause Eviction protections of the Ordinance, tenants can only be evicted for one of the “just cause” reasons as set forth in Section 8-3120. The just cause reasons are summarized below in two categories: At-Fault and No-Fault Reasons.

When a tenant has broken the rental agreement in one or more of the following ways:

• Failure to pay rent
• Material breach of rental agreement
• Maintaining, committing, or permitting a nuisance
• Committing waste
• Failure to sign a substantially similar lease
• Committing criminal activity on the property or off the property that is directed at the owner, members of the tenant’s household, or other tenants of the property
• Assigning or subletting the premises in violation of the lease agreement
• Refusing to allow owner to access premises
• Using premises for an unlawful purpose
• Failure to vacate after termination
• Failure to move out after providing written notice

A tenant who has not broken the rental agreement can still have their lease terminated for the following reasons:

• Intent to occupy in which the owner or their spouse, domestic partner, children, grandchildren, parents, or grandparents want to move into the residential real property
• Withdrawal of the residential real property from the rental market for at least 24 months, as affirmed by the owner in a written affidavit submitted to the City
• Government or court order
• Intent to demolish or substantially remodel the residential real property.

* Under a no-fault just cause termination, the owner shall either provide 3 months of relocation assistance or waive payment of rent for the final 3 months of the tenancy.

If you are a resident of Santa Ana, the infographics below will assist with better understanding the eviction process, and which protections under the Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance may apply to you.

View infographics in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese