Santa Ana landlord law: rent stabilization, just cause, and the Rental Registry

The short answer

The City of Santa Ana has a voter-adopted Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance. Measure CC passed on November 5, 2024 with 57.63 percent of the vote and became Ordinance No. NS-3073.

The current rules include:

• A local annual rent limit equal to the lower of 3 percent or 80 percent of the applicable CPI change for covered units.
• No more than one rent increase in a 12-month period.
• Local just cause after 30 days of continuous lawful occupancy for covered property.
• Three months of rent as relocation assistance, or a final-three-month rent waiver, for covered no-fault terminations.
• City-prescribed and language-matched tenant notices.
• Filing of termination notices and proof of service through the Rental Registry within five days.
• Annual registration or a documented exemption claim.
• Fair-return, capital-improvement, and tenant petition procedures.
• Retaliation and anti-harassment restrictions.

For July 26, 2026, two rate periods matter:

• 2.42 percent applies for the period September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2026.
• 2.87 percent applies for the period September 1, 2026 through August 31, 2027.

The percentage is not an automatic increase. The unit must be covered, properly registered, in compliance, eligible by timing, and served with every required state and local notice.

Confirm that the property is inside the City

A “Santa Ana” postal address can be inside the incorporated City of Santa Ana or in an unincorporated Orange County area. The ordinance applies within City boundaries.

Before using a City form:

1. Verify the parcel through official jurisdiction and assessor records.
2. Confirm the unit number and legal configuration.
3. Obtain the City Rental Registry record.
4. Check whether another government or housing program also controls the property.

The wrong jurisdiction produces the wrong cap, notice, filing, and agency.

Measure CC, Measure X, and the 2026 judgment

Measure CC is the rent measure

Measure CC is the voter-adopted Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance, Ordinance No. NS-3073.

Measure X is not the rent measure

Santa Ana’s Measure X is a 2018 local sales-tax measure. It should not be cited as the source of the City’s rent-control law. This distinction matters because online summaries and informal discussions sometimes use the wrong letter.

The ordinance remains in effect after the 2026 judgment

On February 4, 2026, the Orange County Superior Court entered an amended judgment in Orange County Apartment House Association, Inc. dba Apartment Association of Orange County v. City of Santa Ana, Case No. 30-2023-01308094-CU-JR-CXC.

The City adopted Resolution No. 2026-006 on March 17, 2026. The resolution states that the judgment severed only the final sentence of Municipal Code section 8-3180(a), which prescribed categories for the seven-member Rental Housing Board. It further states that the remainder of the ordinance remains in effect.

The corrected ordinance is attached to that resolution. It is the best official current-law starting point for this page. A prior municipal-code display, pre-judgment form, or headline saying the rent law was “struck down” should not replace the current resolution and actual judgment.

Litigation and implementation can change. Confirm any appeal, later order, City enactment, board rule, or revised form before acting.

What to do first

1. Verify City jurisdiction and every unit.
2. Open the current Rental Registry.
3. Reconcile title, ownership, management, unit, tenant, rent, and occupancy records.
4. File the annual registration or supported exemption claim.
5. Run separate rent-cap and just-cause coverage analyses.
6. Confirm the current annual allowable adjustment and the unit’s last increase date.
7. Check habitability, repair orders, fees, and incomplete registry tasks.
8. Use the current City-prescribed notice in English and the negotiation language.
9. Upload required notices and proof through the Registry.
10. Do not serve a termination or increase until the City and state files agree.

What not to do

• Do not identify Measure X as Santa Ana’s rent-control measure.
• Do not assume the 2026 court judgment invalidated the entire ordinance.
• Do not use a Santa Ana mailing address as proof of City jurisdiction.
• Do not treat the annual percentage as an automatic right to increase.
• Do not claim an exemption only in the lease and omit the annual City filing.
• Do not demand or accept increased rent while registration is incomplete.
• Do not use only English when the tenancy was negotiated in another language.
• Do not serve a termination and upload it after the five-day deadline.
• Do not pay only one month of no-fault relocation when local law requires three.
• Do not remove parking, utilities, storage, or another housing service to create an indirect increase or pressure a move-out.
• Do not assume Costa-Hawkins, AB 1482, and Santa Ana use one identical exemption test.

Rent stabilization

The formula

For covered residential property and mobilehome spaces, Municipal Code section 8-3140 prohibits:

• An annual increase above 3 percent or 80 percent of the applicable Consumer Price Index change, whichever is lower; and
• More than one rent increase in any 12-month period.

If the CPI change is negative, the ordinance permits no annual increase.

The City uses the non-seasonally-adjusted Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim metropolitan area and announces the new adjustment by June 30 for a September 1 effective period.

Current and upcoming rate

The City’s June 2026 guidance announces:

For a tenant whose last increase occurred after September 1 of the prior period, the 12-month rule can delay use of the new adjustment. Do not stack an unused percentage or serve early without a legal basis.

“Rent” includes more than base rent

The ordinance defines rent broadly. It can include periodic monetary and nonmonetary consideration connected to occupancy, such as amounts for:

• Utilities not separately billed by the utility.
• Parking.
• Storage.
• Pets.
• Housing services.
• Other occupancy-related fees.

A reduction in housing services without a corresponding rent reduction can qualify as a rent increase. Do not move a prohibited increase into a separate line item.

When an increase is ineffective

The ordinance states that an increase is not effective when the owner:

• Fails to substantially comply with the rent-stabilization division, including notices.
• Fails to maintain the property in compliance with applicable habitability law.
• Fails to make repairs ordered by the City or a court.
• Has not accurately completed the unit registration.

A violation occurs when the prohibited notice or demand is served. The owner should review compliance before issuing the notice, not only before collection.

Petitions

An owner who contends that the cap prevents a fair and reasonable return may use the City’s fair-return petition process. The ordinance also provides a capital-improvement petition path for qualifying costs, subject to timing, useful-life, allocation, completion, and other requirements.

Do not self-calculate a capital-improvement surcharge outside the petition process.

Tenants may petition over an excessive increase, decreased housing services, habitability, capital-improvement charges, or another ordinance violation.

Rent-stabilization coverage and exemptions

Coverage is unit-specific.

Potential exclusions or exemptions include:

• Costa-Hawkins-protected initial rental rates.
• Qualifying affordable or subsidized housing.
• Specified school dormitories.
• Housing with a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years.
• Qualifying separately alienable property with eligible ownership and the exact tenant notice.
• A qualifying owner-occupied two-unit, single-structure property in which neither unit is an ADU or JADU.
• Mobilehome matters controlled by the Mobilehome Residency Law.

The City’s exception for a home or condominium that can be sold separately (a “separately alienable” property) also depends on title, ownership, and the required tenant notice. It does not apply when a corporation, REIT, or an LLC with a corporate member owns the property.

But Costa-Hawkins can independently restrict a local price ceiling. The statewide rent cap can independently cover a unit that is not locally price-controlled. Prepare three separate conclusions:

1. Does Costa-Hawkins limit Santa Ana’s regulation of the initial rent?
2. Does Santa Ana’s annual rent cap apply to this unit and event?
3. Does Civil Code section 1947.12 separately cap the increase?

Costa-Hawkins and Local Rent Control and AB 1482 Exemptions and Property Coverage explain the distinction.

Just cause after 30 days

For covered property, Santa Ana generally requires an at-fault or no-fault cause after the tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied for 30 days.

That local threshold is much earlier than the principal occupancy threshold in statewide section 1946.2. An owner should not assume a new tenancy can be ended without cause merely because state just cause has not yet attached.

At-fault grounds

The current ordinance includes grounds involving:

• Nonpayment of rent.
• Material lease breach after required opportunity to cure.
• Nuisance.
• Waste.
• Refusal of a qualifying renewal.
• Specified criminal activity.
• Unapproved assignment or subletting, subject to local replacement-occupant protections.
• Refusal of lawful entry.
• Unlawful use.
• Failure to vacate after employment, agency, or license ends.
• Failure to deliver possession after the tenant’s written notice or accepted surrender.

The local rules add detail. For example, a notice to cease or correct must include specific facts and information about cure, reasonable accommodation, and the Program Administrator. Additional-occupant and replacement-tenant rules can limit a generic lease-breach theory.

No-fault grounds

The ordinance recognizes:

• Owner or qualified-relative occupancy.
• Withdrawal from the rental market.
• Compliance with specified government or court orders.
• Intent to demolish or substantially remodel.

Santa Ana’s requirements can exceed the statewide baseline.

Owner occupancy

The current ordinance requires the qualifying owner or relative to intend occupancy for at least 24 months, affirmed in a written affidavit submitted to the City. For leases entered into after the ordinance’s effective date, the lease must contain the qualifying termination provision or the tenant must agree in writing as the ordinance specifies.

State law can add a 25-percent ownership test, 90-day move-in, unit-availability rules, notice content, and other conditions. Apply both layers.

Withdrawal

Santa Ana requires an anticipated withdrawal period of at least 24 months, affirmed by an owner affidavit submitted to the City. The Ellis Act and other local filing and re-rental consequences also require review.

Government order

Confirm that the actual agency, court, or ordinance requires vacancy. Preserve the complete order and assess whether tenant fault, owner fault, habitability, and other relocation law affect the result.

Demolition or substantial remodel

The local definition requires permitted structural, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical system work, or qualifying hazardous-material abatement, that cannot reasonably be completed safely with the tenant present and requires at least 30 days of vacancy. Cosmetic work is insufficient.

The ordinance provides an advance reoccupancy notice and a right of first refusal if the owner offers the remodeled unit for rent within six months after completion, absent a valid written waiver.

School-term defense

The ordinance creates a defense to a no-fault possession action when a person under 21:

• Resides in the unit or has the specified custodial or family relationship with a tenant; and
• Is registered and actively attending any level of school during the specified school term.

Before setting a no-fault schedule, identify every occupant and obtain advice about the current school-term provision.

Three months of no-fault relocation

For a covered no-fault termination, Santa Ana requires the owner to choose:

• Direct payment equal to three months of the tenant’s rent; or
• A written waiver of the final three months’ rent before each amount becomes due.

The direct payment must be provided within 15 calendar days after service of the termination notice. The notice must state the tenant’s rights. If rent is waived, the notice must state the total amount waived and that no rent is due for the final three months.

The local amount applies regardless of tenant income. It is credited against relocation required by another law. Missing this relocation requirement makes the termination notice invalid.

Use a written calculation showing:

• Rent in effect on the notice date.
• Three-month total.
• State and other local obligations.
• Credit treatment.
• Payment or waiver method.
• Delivery and receipt.

Termination notice and five-day filing

For both at-fault and no-fault terminations under the ordinance, the owner must:

• Serve a written notice stating at least one qualifying cause and satisfying federal and state law.
• Classify the cause as at-fault or no-fault.
• Avoid accepting rent or other consideration for occupancy beyond the termination date in a manner inconsistent with applicable law.
• Provide the notice in English and the language used to negotiate the tenancy.
• Submit a true and accurate copy of the notice and proof of tenant service through the Rental Registry within five days after service.
• Sign the City submission under penalty of perjury and preserve proof of filing.

The five-day filing is not a substitute for correct tenant service. Prepare both records before the service event.

The Rental Registry

Annual registration and exemption claims

The ordinance requires annual unit registration. An owner claiming an exemption must file the City claim with supporting documents. If the declaration and support are not submitted by the annual deadline, the ordinance deems the unit subject.

For the 2026–2027 program year, the City announced:

• Registration period: June 1 through July 1, 2026.
• Program year: July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.
• Fee: $100 per unit if paid June 1 through July 31, 2026.
• Fee beginning August 1, 2026: $104 per unit.
• Exemption claims and support must be submitted during the registration period; the City’s May guidance says claims outside that window will not be processed and the unit will be assumed subject.

These dates and fees are volatile. Confirm the live portal and City instruction before payment.

New Tolemi portal

The City moved the Registry to a Tolemi-powered portal for the 2026–2027 cycle:

Open the current Santa Ana Rental Registry

The former rentalregistry.santa-ana.org address redirects to the new system.

Complete status and outstanding tasks

The City’s June 2026 guidance states that registered status requires:

• Submission of the annual registration.
• Payment of applicable fees.
• Approval of exemption claims.

The portal may separately show outstanding tasks such as occupancy changes, rent increases, or other submissions. Those tasks may not prevent the display of registered status for the current cycle, but they remain compliance duties and can affect ordinance protections.

Information to reconcile

The ordinance requires the registration file to include unit-specific information such as:

• Address and unit identifier.
• Bedrooms and bathrooms.
• Owner, manager, and representative information.
• Ownership date.
• Current rent.
• Date and amount of last increase.
• Tenant move-in date.

The owner signs under penalty of perjury. Compare the portal with the lease, ledger, deed, and actual occupancy before submitting.

Ownership, management, and vacancy changes

Current ordinance deadlines include:

• Prior owner notice to the City within 30 days after close of escrow.
• New owner registration within 60 days after the ownership change.
• Tenant notice of the new owner and manager as part of the new-owner filing.
• Registry amendment within 60 days after a management, agent, or address change.
• Re-registration within 30 days after a vacancy and re-rental.
• Registration within 30 days after an exempt unit loses its exempt status.

A tenant-occupied closing should allocate each task expressly.

Notices uploaded through the Registry

The ordinance broadly requires notices or documents provided by an owner to a tenant under the ordinance or other law—including rent-increase and eviction notices—to be provided to the City through the Registry.

Build upload and proof into the property manager’s standard operating procedure.

Consequences of incomplete registration

The ordinance states that, while registration is incomplete or inaccurate, an owner may not advertise for rent, demand or accept rent, or evict a tenant from the unit. It also states that rent increases and petitions do not take effect unless registration is accurately completed.

These are significant consequences. A portal issue should be handled as a compliance matter, not postponed until the next annual cycle.

Fee pass-through

After timely payment, an owner may pass through up to 50 percent of the registration fee in 12 equal monthly installments. The pass-through is not part of rent for rent-increase calculations.

Late fees and penalties cannot be passed through. The ordinance also bars the pass-through to specified subsidized tenants.

Use the current City notice and calculation before adding a line item to the tenant ledger.

Required notices and language

Santa Ana uses City-prescribed notices for:

• Just-cause rights.
• Rent-stabilization rights.
• Exemption claims.
• Rent increases.
• Change of ownership.
• Other program events.

The owner must provide required notices in English and in the language used by the owner and tenant to negotiate the tenancy.

The file should record:

• What language was used.
• Which translated form was delivered.
• Date and method of service.
• Tenant acknowledgment where required.
• Registry upload.
• Current form revision.

Do not translate only the headline or attach an English legal notice to an informal message in another language.

Anti-harassment and retaliation

The ordinance prohibits retaliation and a detailed list of harassing conduct. Owner and manager risk can arise from:

• Withholding required housing services.
• Bad-faith delay or misuse of repairs.
• Elective construction intended to pressure a tenant.
• Abuse of entry.
• Fraud, misrepresentation, intimidation, or coercion.
• An eviction notice unsupported by facts or a tenable legal theory.
• False statements about tenant protections.
• Repeated buyout offers after a tenant’s written request to stop.
• Removal of parking or another housing service to cause a move-out.
• Language used to intimidate, confuse, or deceive.

Operational discipline matters. Route tenant notices, repair access, buyout communications, and sensitive disputes through one reviewed communication plan.

Purchase and sale diligence

A buyer of Santa Ana rental property should obtain:

• City jurisdiction confirmation.
• Current registration and task status for every unit.
• Exemption claims and supporting records.
• Leases, notices, and negotiation-language history.
• Rent ledger and increase dates.
• Tenant move-in and occupant history.
• Habitability, code, repair-order, and petition history.
• Termination and buyout records.
• Housing-service list.
• Subsidy and affordable-housing documents.
• Seller’s ownership-change plan.
• Required tenant notification.

The buyer should not underwrite an immediate increase or vacant possession until the unit-level legal and registry file supports it.

Common owner scenarios

Older apartment with a rent increase planned in August 2026

Assume the unit is covered and the last increase was at least 12 months earlier. Through August 31, 2026, the current maximum is 2.42 percent. The 2.87 percent period begins September 1, 2026. Registration, habitability, notice content, service timing, language, and upload still control.

Individually owned condominium with exemption notice

Assume the condominium is separately titled, qualifying ownership is documented, and the tenant received the exact local and state exemption language. Those facts may support exemptions, but annual City exemption filing, Costa-Hawkins, state rent-cap, just-cause, and registration treatment must each be verified.

Owner wants to move into a rented home

Assume just cause applies. Review the owner’s title and state ownership threshold, required lease provision, intended occupant, 24-month local plan and affidavit, 90-day state move-in rule, comparable vacant units, three-month local relocation, notice language, school-term defense, and five-day filing before service.

Buyer acquires a registered apartment building

The seller’s registration does not complete the buyer’s duties. The seller must report ownership change within 30 days, the buyer must register within 60 days, tenants must receive the prescribed ownership notice, and management or agent changes must be filed.

These examples omit facts that can change the conclusion.

Common mistakes

• Using the wrong ballot-measure name.
• Treating the board-composition judgment as repeal of the ordinance.
• Applying the announced percentage before the correct September 1 period.
• Forgetting the one-increase-per-12-month rule.
• Counting only base rent and ignoring housing-service changes.
• Failing to file an annual exemption.
• Assuming “registered” means every task is complete.
• Missing the five-day termination-notice upload.
• Paying one month instead of three months for local no-fault relocation.
• Ignoring the 24-month owner-occupancy or withdrawal commitment.
• Missing the school-term defense.
• Using English-only notices.
• Failing to plan Registry duties in a purchase agreement.

How Law Laguna can help you move forward

Depending on the engagement, Law Laguna can:

• Prepare a unit-by-unit coverage and exemption matrix.
• Audit the Rental Registry against title, leases, ledgers, and occupancy.
• Review a proposed rent increase and notice package.
• Assess a just-cause or no-fault path.
• Calculate and document relocation.
• Review owner-occupancy, withdrawal, or remodel records.
• Prepare pre-litigation tenant communications or buyout strategy.
• Review acquisition and ownership-change compliance.
• Organize a fair-return or capital-improvement issue with appropriate financial support.
• Prepare a matter for referral when a filed action or specialist proceeding is required.

Law Laguna can assess the tenancy, documents, local requirements, available options, and pre-litigation strategy. If a filed court action becomes necessary, the firm can help prepare an organized transition to appropriate litigation counsel.

Related services and guides

• Orange County Landlord Law
• Rent Control and Just-Cause Compliance
• California Tenant Protection Act and AB 1482
• AB 1482 Exemptions and Property Coverage
• Costa-Hawkins and Local Rent Control
• No-Fault Terminations, Relocation, and Tenant Buyouts
• Rent Payments, Fees, and Charges
• Tenant-Occupied Property Transactions

Official legal sources

• Santa Ana Resolution No. 2026-006 and corrected Measure CC ordinance
• Santa Ana June 2026 Rent Stabilization Newsletter
• Santa Ana May 2026 Rent Stabilization Newsletter
• Current Santa Ana Rental Registry
• Santa Ana Municipal Code, Article XIX
• Santa Ana 2025 Measure X annual report

Request a Santa Ana Compliance Review

Law Laguna can turn the title, tenancy, ledger, Registry, notices, and proposed decision into one unit-by-unit owner roadmap.

Request a Santa Ana Compliance Review

Do not send confidential information or documents until Law Laguna confirms conflicts, scope, and availability.