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Community Development Agency
www.santa-ana.org/community-
development Item # 38
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
November 7, 2023
TOPIC: Santa Ana Rental Registry Informational Report
AGENDA TITLE
Rental Registry Informational Report
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Accept informational report and provide direction to staff.
GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: No
DISCUSSION
Effective November 18, 2022, the City of Santa Ana adopted Ordinance No. NS-3027 known as the Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance (Ordinance). Under the Ordinance, the City must create a Rental Registry and all landlords with rental units in the City of Santa Ana must complete and submit Registration Forms for each rental unit. The Rental Registry is an online portal where landlords must register their rental units, update rental unit information, update tenancy information, submit notices, and pay the City’s Rental Registry fee, if applicable. The City’s Rental Registry allows the City to securely compile key data on rent-stabilized units, track allowable rent increases, monitor compliance with the City’s Ordinance, and communicate rental unit data on a regular basis to both landlords and tenants.
The City’s Rental Registry gathers key data on rent-stabilized units through the submission of a Registration Form. Some of the information required in the Registration Form is detailed in Section 8-3160(g) of the Ordinance. However, the Ordinance also provides that the Program Administrator, at his/her/their discretion, may require additional information to be collected and recorded in the Registration Form in furtherance of the objectives of the Ordinance. It is important to note that lease agreements, Social Security Numbers, Employer Identification Numbers, or any other confidential information unrelated to compliance with the Ordinance is not collected in the Rental Registry. The City has determined that the information collected in the Registration Form, which is all directly related to Rental Units, is necessary to collect in furtherance of the objectives of the Ordinance.
Obtaining accurate contact information in the Rental Registry allows the City to
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Santa Ana Rental Registry Informational Report
November 7, 2023
communicate effectively to both landlords and tenants as needed. The Registration Form requests the name, contact information, and preferred language for only the Head of Household or Co-Head of Household such that staff can assist the tenant in their respective language, if it is known by the landlord. If a landlord does not know the preferred language of the tenant, they have the option to select “Unknown.” It is important to note that the City is not asking for the names, phone numbers, email addresses, and other contact information for every tenant or occupant in the rental unit, rather only the Head of Household or Co-Head of Household. Information about the tenant’s race, ethnicity, or nationality is also not requested in the City’s Rental Registry.
The City’s Rental Registry is maintained by the City’s software provider, 3Di Systems (3Di). 3Di’s platform is Service Organization Control Type 2 compliant, ensuring security, confidentiality, and privacy of all information submitted. The cloud-based SaaS platform is supported by Amazon Web Services, which offers the ability to encrypt data at rest and in transit, furthering the reliability, security, and technical capabilities of the system. Information entered in the Rental Registry is restricted to authorized users with role-based permissions and is not publicly accessible. 3Di has over 20 years of experience in creating similar platforms for government and community organizations. 3Di manages the rental registries for multiple cities throughout California, including the City of Oakland and Los Angeles, and there has never been breach of their data.
To assist landlords with registering their rental units, a dedicated e-mail address and Rent Stabilization Helpline are available with staff standing by. Staff have also created a comprehensive webpage with information about the Rental Registry including helpful resources such as a User Guide, FAQs, recorded demonstrations, and a PowerPoint presentation. Staff and computers are also available by appointment at the Santa Ana WORK Center at 801 W Civic Center Drive, Suite 200, Santa Ana, CA 92701.
EXHIBIT(S)
1. Staff Presentation from October 17, 2023 City Council Meeting
2. Frequently Asked Questions – Rental Registry
Submitted By: Michael L. Garcia, Executive Director of Community Development Approved By: Steven A. Mendoza, Acting City Manager