Anaheim city officials are set to roll out a pilot program next month, including a dedicated webpage, designed for tenants to report illegal rent increases and no-fault evictions. This comes after years of discussions and calls for the city to consider rent control legislation, which would make Anaheim the second city in Orange County to implement such a law.
The primary goal of this intake program is to gather information on the frequency of violations to California’s tenant protection law. It also provides the city attorney’s office an opportunity to review individual complaints and assess on a case-by-case basis whether intervention is possible.
However, the extent to which city officials will intervene in disputes concerning illegal rent hikes or no-fault evictions remains unclear. City Attorney Rob Fabela stated that the volume of information the program will collect is unknown, and any civil enforcement would require approval from the city. He added that additional resources would be necessary to pursue every violation, if the volume is substantial.
“There’s not going to be any promises made about any particular situation,” Fabela said, indicating that current resources do not allow for addressing every potential violation. “Right now, we’re not asking for that.”
In recent years, as residents advocated for local rent control, elected officials like City Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava have instead directed city staff to examine the requirements for enforcing existing state laws regarding renter protections. This request was made by Rubalcava in September 2024 and reiterated earlier this year. The councilwoman, who is seeking re-election, has previously noted that even if Anaheim adopted its own rent control ordinance, enforcement might prove difficult—a point she repeated on Tuesday.
Rubalcava described the program as "a good step forward." She argued that enforcing state rules is a better strategy than implementing a new, potentially unenforceable tenant protection initiative. The launch of this reporting program is anticipated to occur just a month before the November election and a couple of months after Tenants United Anaheim, a local tenant group, suspended its efforts to collect signatures for a rent control ordinance on the ballot. The group ceased its initiative after receiving feedback from residents who felt their proposal did not adequately address the city's needs.
This new program also follows a 2023 state bill that strengthened California’s Tenant Protection law, allowing local city attorneys to seek injunctive relief in cases of illegal rent increases or no-fault evictions. Members of Tenants United Anaheim viewed the program as merely a "baby step" toward addressing a long-standing issue. At a recent city council meeting, Lupe Zamron, a volunteer with the group, urged officials to consider a rent control ordinance, highlighting the challenges faced by the community.
“Our community is facing serious, serious challenges and we are seeing declined student enrollment, schools having to merge, teachers losing their jobs, residents being forced to move out because they can no longer afford to live in Anaheim,” Zamron stated during public comment. She asked the mayor and city council to reconsider rent control to provide relief to Anaheim families.
Chip Ahlswede, a spokesperson for the Apartment Association of OC, confirmed that the association encourages local landlords to comply with state law. He noted that the state law resulted from a compromise among various groups.
Fabela emphasized that the city’s role under the new program would not be to serve as legal representation for individual renters. Tenants will still retain their own rights and the ability to pursue their own remedies to such disputes in court. Councilman Ryan Bailus raised concerns about the program’s development, questioning whether it had received proper approval from elected officials before significant staff time and money were invested.
Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, who is also seeking re-election, suggested that the city post resource pamphlets outlining tenant rights at local libraries. She also proposed adding a link to the superior court’s website and phone numbers for low-cost attorneys to the program’s webpage. “We need to be out there advocating for our rental community to make sure they have the access and the education to know their rights and to make sure that they are being able to fight for them,” Aitken said.
According to a 2021 report by the Southern California Association of Governments, 55,113 of Anaheim’s 100,615 homes are renter-occupied. Census data indicates the median gross rent in Anaheim is $2,175, with a median household income of $95,227. The program is expected to be brought back before the city council for review by April 2027, no more than six months after its launch.
