The Santa Barbara County rental inspection program will investigate building code and health violations in Isla Vista, according to County Planning & Development Director Lisa Plowman. While no draft language of the program has been published yet, the County Board of Supervisors will hear more robust plans from Second District Supervisor Laura Capps at its May 6 meeting.
The rental inspection program is an initiative to investigate health and building code violations in Isla Vista homes. Maddy Fangio / Daily Nexus
The rental inspection program is an initiative by Capps and the Planning & Development Department to investigate health and building code violations in Isla Vista homes. Before, for a county building inspector to come, it was up to residents to retroactively report hazardous living conditions on a county website forum. Tenants, however, have cited concerns with doing so for fear of retribution from landlords, which could mean withholding a security deposit.
The program is supported by a $600,000 allocation from a $3.7 million county settlement in March 2024 against UC Santa Barbara for not meeting promises to build new housing in tandem with a rising number of admitted students.
The new program would send inspectors contracted by the county to investigate housing for mold, rodents, insects, missing smoke detectors and other violations. It would also look to inspect building code violations, according to Plowman, which may include unpermitted Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). Many properties rented out in I.V. qualify as ADUs, including garages and backyard cottages.
“If they’re in there and they can see that a garage has been converted potentially, then that could be reported to the planning department, and then we could follow up with a potential violation of the permit,” Plowman said.
Renting out ADUs requires permits from the county. In lieu of the inspection program, many landlords are now requesting such permits to acquire ADU status for their garage units, Plowman said. Landlords may not be taking the step to request the necessary permits because it costs money and takes time, she added.
Capps’ office has indicated that any fines incurred for violations would be directed to the landlord of the unit.
“I don’t know how that would be legal,” District Representative and Communications Director Eleanor Gartner told the Nexus regarding fines being handed off to tenants. “It’s the responsibility of the property owner and landlord to make sure that their tenants are safe and that their buildings are up to code.”
“My concerns with the program itself is that it might force students to be displaced,” Associated Students (A.S.) External Vice President for Local Affairs Owen Meyers said.
Plowman says the University has indicated that they may have available housing to hold students during the summer if they are displaced from their homes due to an inspection. She said she doesn’t anticipate tenants being permanently removed from their homes.
“I am not anticipating that we’re going to find something that is going to permanently remove students from the unit,” Plowman said. “Where we see problems, where students might have to move out for an extended period of time, is when the bluff has eroded substantially and they have to cut the building back, or they have to demo the building.”
The initiative would start as a pilot program this summer, only investigating dwellings on Del Playa Drive from mid-July through August. After the inspections, it is up to the landlords to make sure their buildings are up to code for when many students move back in in September.
Capps first announced the program publicly to students at an A.S. Senate meeting on March 5.
“I am appalled by the living conditions that students and other tenants and low income families deal with at Isla Vista. It’s unacceptable. I think there’s price gouging. I think that there’s slum lords. I think that it should not be that way, and it doesn’t have to be that way,” Capps said at the meeting.
Some of the settlement funds will go toward improving roads, parks and lighting around Isla Vista, and some is allocated for tenant legal aid support, according to Capps. She has not yet said how much would be allocated to any of these efforts.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will hear more details regarding the program at its May 6 board meeting at 10 a.m.
A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the May 1, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.
