Costa Mesa City Council Rejects Troubled Housing Proposals
The Costa Mesa City Council rejected proposals on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, to create a citywide rental registry and mandate rental housing provider reporting of all unlawful detainer filings. Both proposals were characterized as efforts that would strengthen tenant protections and create transparency. However, after nearly 200 emails and public comments from AAOC members and others, the council voted “NO” on both proposals! This was a major win for rental housing providers in the city.
The Costa Mesa City Council heard from AAOC members and others - in a BIG way:
- Nearly 200 emails and letters
- Nearly 20 speakers
- 5 apartment, mobile home park owner, and REALTOR associations and their members
All with one singular message - DON'T FOLLOW THE PATH THAT IS DESTROYING SANTA ANA
The city council agenda was a full one Tuesday night, with two items that had significant impact on the rental-housing industry:
- Establishment of a citywide Rental Registry; and
- Mandated reporting by rental housing providers to the city when Unlawful Detainers are filed.
Both proposals were rejected by the council citing several of our objections, and some of their own:
- Concerns about exposing housing units that were not to code that could result in loss of housing in the community.
- Concerns about the possibility of the city creating a registry of people that could be misused by ICE to find illegal immigrants.
- Concerns that creating a registry of Unlawful Detainers could expose the privacy of tenants.
In the long run, regardless of the reasons that led the council to see the problems with the policy, we are once again in a position where Costa Mesa took the appropriate steps when addressing matters related to rental housing.
AAOC thanks its members who helped advocate in defense of our industry in Costa Mesa! It is because of YOUR efforts that we were successful in overcoming this threat - and it is what we will need to be successful in every other city moving forward.