SAHA Landlord Newsletter - October 2025

Program News and Updates – October 2025

Federal Government Shutdown Update

The Santa Ana Housing Authority understands that the ongoing federal government shutdown may raise concerns for you. We want to share what this situation means for your housing assistance payments from our agency and keep you informed along the way.

Although the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) remains closed during the shutdown, Santa Ana has received confirmation from our trusted national partner, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), that HUD will obligate funding for both November and December housing assistance payments (HAP).

This means that you should not see any interruption in your housing assistance payments for November and December.

Funding beyond December will depend on congressional action. If the federal government shutdown continues for an extended period, it may affect future payments. We are closely monitoring the situation and will notify you immediately if there are any changes that affect your housing assistance payments.

We value your partnership and appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate this together.

Attorney General Issues Alert: Housing Discrimination Against Immigrant Communities is Illegal

Rob Bonta Press Release regarding immigration

In order to assist our community during recent increased immigration enforcement, the City of Santa Ana is sharing the following announcement from California Attorney General Rob Bonta regarding landlords and immigration authorities:

If immigration authorities like ICE demand tenant information from a landlord, such as a tenant’s rental application or other documents, the landlord may ask to see a warrant or other authority. Landlords should immediately seek legal advice to determine whether they must comply and to ensure that they do not violate California’s anti-discrimination and privacy laws.

There are different types of documents that ICE may present:

An ICE administrative warrant or a notice to appear for an immigration hearing does not give ICE special powers to search a landlord’s records. Landlords should seek legal advice about how to respond.
If ICE presents a warrant issued by a federal court or other court order signed by a judge, landlords should comply promptly and, where feasible, seek legal advice before responding.
Landlords presented with a subpoena for documents or evidence should seek legal advice on how to respond.
Landlords should not physically interfere with ICE officers in the performance of their duties.

For more information, please read the full statement from the Attorney General here.

For Spanish, read the full statement from the Attorney General here.

New Legislation Affecting Rental Housing

Assembly Bill 628 – Mandatory Appliance Requirements: Landlords Required to Provide Working Refrigerator and Stove

This new law requires every residential unit in California, including for leases entered into, amended, or extended, on or after January 1, 2026, to have a working stove and refrigerator to be deemed habitable. Now along with heating, water, electricity, etc., a working stove and refrigerator are required to meet habitability standards in California. Moreover, the appliances are required to be maintained in working order throughout tenancy.

The new law also requires:

A property owner to repair or replace a stove or refrigerator within thirty (30) days written notice by the tenant should that appliance not safely generate heat for cooking purposes or safely store food in a refrigerator.
The following statement to be included in lease agreements: “Under state law, the landlord is required to provide a refrigerator in good working order in your unit. By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have asked to bring your own refrigerator and that you are responsible for keeping that refrigerator in working order.”
If a tenant supplies their own refrigerator, under the new law, tenants will also have the unilateral right to later require that owners provide a refrigerator upon a thirty (30)-day written notice.
A property owner must provide a working stove; this is no longer optional.

For more information, read the full CA Assembly Bill 628 text here.

Assembly Bill 246 – Social Security Tenant Protection Act of 2025

Eviction Protections for Renters Affected by Federal Payment Delays The latest amendment AB 246, drops rent freeze provisions and instead the new bill now offers eviction protections for tenants during declared interruptions in Social Security payments. If a disruption occurs, tenants who rely on those benefits and are unable to pay rent may not be evicted, as long as they submit a state-issued hardship declaration.

Under the current version of AB 246, landlords must:

Provide a 15-day notice to pay or quit during declared Social Security interruptions (instead of the standard 3-day notice).
Include a hardship declaration form provided by the state in the notice.
Delay eviction filings if the tenant returns the declaration form stating they are affected by the payment delay.

This is similar to how eviction protections were handled during COVID-19 under state emergency rules.

This new version of the bill will stay in effect until January 20, 2029.

For more information, read the full Assembly Bill 246 text here.

Remember AB 2747? Are You in Compliance?

California law now requires rental housing providers who meet certain criteria to offer their tenants the option of having their on-time rent payments reported to credit bureaus to help them build credit.

The Apartment Association of Orange County (AAOC) is hosting a FREE webinar on Thursday, October 30, at 2:00 p.m., titled Positive Rent Payment Reporting: How Credit Rent Boost Can Help You Comply with the Law. Join AAOC to lean about the new requirements under AB 2747, how positive rent reporting works, and how Credit Rent Boost can simplify compliance while supporting your tenants’ financial health

Click Here to Register for the Free Webinar

Housing Authority Staff Contact List

If you need to reach your tenant’s Housing Specialist, please click on the link below for details.

Click Here for our Housing Authority Staff Contact List

Rent Increase Submissions

The HAP Contract requires all rent increase requests to be issued in writing to the tenant with a copy sent to the Housing Authority at least 60 days prior to the effective date. To streamline the process, SAHA created an email account dedicated to only to rent increase requests. To ensure that your rent increase requests are processed timely and correctly, please email them to SAHARentIncrease@santa-ana.org.

Vacancy Listings

If you currently have a vacancy or you are expecting to have a vacancy in the near future, we encourage you to list your vacant units with us at www.affordablehousing.com. You may also consider signing up for our region’s landlord incentive program, Welcome Home OC. The website for more information is: www.unitedtoendhomelessness.org/welcomehome.

Family Self-Sufficiency Program

Our assisted families can voluntarily participate in our Family Self-Sufficiency Program. The Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program is a HUD program that enables families assisted through the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program to increase their earned income and reduce their dependency on welfare assistance and rental subsidies. The Santa Ana Housing Authority (SAHA) works in collaboration with the Santa Ana WORK Center and a Program Coordinating Committee (PCC) to provide coaching, guidance and case management to FSS Program participants. Our goal is that all of our non-elderly, non-disabled families voluntarily join our FSS Program and use our housing assistance as a platform to attain self-sufficiency and independence from our housing assistance. Please click on the link below for more information or contact Katherine Leal at (714) 565-2210 or Gabriela Garcia at (714) 565-2618.

Click Here for FSS Program Information

Listing your vacant units with us has never been easier!

Our agency uses a service called www.affordablehousing.com.

Afffordablehousing.com is the largest listing service for affordable housing in the nation. It provides a central location where voucher holders can search for available units where the landlord is willing to screen the voucher holder for tenancy. It only takes a couple of minutes to post a free listing and you will get leads sent directly to your inbox.

To list your units, simply go to www.affordablehousing.com or click on the link above. Listing your units on www.affordablehousing.com, does not obligate you to rent to one of our voucher holders. You are simply expanding your marketing to ensure you are able to find the most qualified tenant possible for your unit(s).

Apartment Association of Orange County

Membership in the Apartment Association of Orange County (AAOC) opens doors of opportunity as you seek to broaden your knowledge of the industry and maximize your potential as an industry professional. You will receive professional assistance that will help you achieve your professional goals.

You can own or manage a single unit or thousands of units – AAOC offers something for everybody!

AAOC will provide you with the tools you need be an even more successful rental housing owner, some of which include: