UCSB students have more to worry about than a noise violation ticket from the Isla Vista Foot Patrol (IVFP). With the help of a new student liaison, their landlords could find out the next time the party gets out of control.

IVFP Lt. Sol Linver said a UCSB student – who declined to give her name for fear of reprisal from other students – started work in September to notify Isla Vista’s landowners when the IVFP is called to one of their properties. He said the IVFP created the student position after receiving up to $20,000 in grant money from the county’s Dept. of Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services in Oct. 2004. The liaison maintains a database of property owners and sends out e-mails on a weekly basis to notify property owners of disturbances – such as noise violations, keg parties and vandalism – caused by their tenants.

Linver said the IVFP has been notifying property owners of some types of disturbances for several years, but the new system allows for more constant and specific communication between officers and property owners because it is done primarily through e-mail and telephone.

Under the old notification system, property owners received letters every 30 days informing them about their tenants’ noise violations and keg parties. Linver said the new liaison, who applied for the position last year, has worked with landlords and the I.V. Property Owners Association to compile a more complete list of issues that would merit notification.

“If they have graffiti or vandalism, noise violations, a large party out of control, that’s on the list,” Linver said. “A large party with a keg – they want to be notified of those. If there is damage like a broken window they want to be notified of that also.”

Linver said the new notification system is more cost efficient than the old one and saves the IVFP several hours of staff time per week.

“We are probably saving $1,000 a year in office costs, not to mention staffing because sending out e-mails is much faster than sending out letters,” Linver said.

Linver said the system is designed so officers and property owners can always add more situations to the list of offenses that merit notification.

“It’s flexible. If we have problems with couch burning and if furniture is in front [of the property] she may call and notify the property owners,” Linver said.

Lou Ventura, who has owned property in I.V. since the 1960s, said he thinks the new notification system benefits both property owners and I.V. residents.

“It’s just one more pair of eyes out there,” Ventura said. “It can really add to a student’s quality of life. It’s just another control that the tenant can have in living peaceably, if that is possible in Isla Vista.”