The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors hosted its first Isla Vista Rental Inspection Town Hall on June 5 to address the county’s inspection of rental properties for housing safety violations.
The Rental Inspection Pilot Program is funded through a settlement made between UC Santa Barbara and SBC. Nexus file photo
The town hall served to inform the public about the Isla Vista Rental Inspection Pilot Program, an initiative involving inspecting Isla Vista properties to potentially improve resident housing conditions. It was organized by Santa Barbara County (SBC) Second District Supervisor Laura Capps and former Associated Students (A.S.) Senator and fourth-year political science major Paolo Brinderson, and hosted by Eleanor Gartner, a district representative for Capps, alongside SBC Assistant Director of Planning & Development Jeff Wilson.
The Rental Inspection Pilot Program is funded through a settlement made between UC Santa Barbara and SBC. According to the lawsuit, the University failed to construct enough housing for the growing student population. According to Gartner, the settlement means that UCSB must build 3,500 new student beds, hence the new San Benito Housing Complex being constructed in 2027, along with $3.7 million to “fund various Isla Vista serving programs,” including the rental inspection program.
Property owners are required to register their rental properties via an online portal. The initial phase will begin in mid-July and end in September, with a target to inspect 60-70 properties during that period. According to Wilson, they will target areas based on location or properties that have received frequent tenant complaints.
“There’s areas that we’ve looked at based on number of complaints, based on location, based on known safety issues that we’re going to target first,” Wilson said. “The goal is to do it systematically, not jump all over, so more likely it’ll be a street or side of the street that will be notified that that’s where we’re going to start.”
According to Gartner, specific issues that are prevalent in I.V. include crumbling balconies and fences, staircases that “aren’t up to code,” faulty door hinges and a lack of smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, among others.
“We’ve heard from so many students, really the hard way, that they don’t have these basic safety things in place — working plumbing, electricity, heat. We’re talking about safe, basic living conditions and needs here,” Gartner said in an interview with the Nexus.
One of the largest concerns from attendees was whether or not property owners would push property fees onto tenants. Some voiced concerns that the costs of repairs would ultimately be passed onto the tenants through additional charges.
“If the sole institution or way of figuring out who’s responsible for whatever violation that the inspection program will come out with … there is no set standard by the program of how that’s going to be resolved, and I think that there’s a tangible chance that those costs will be passed on to the consumer,” third-year global studies and history double major and A.S. Internal Vice President Enri Lala said.
While Gartner said tenants being fined for damages is “a possibility,” she said it shouldn’t be a “fear factor” since SBC is looking at the basic health and safety needs of the properties.
“The county is paying for the inspection so there’s no cost to either the tenant or the landlord or property owner at all,” Gartner said. There might be some fees that landlords are responsible to pay for, given that they are required to meet the basic health and safety needs of the properties that they manage.”
When asked how an unsafe condition caused by a tenant would be handled, Wilson responded by saying they’re “not doing that investigation.”
“Let’s say somebody slammed a window and it cracked the window, and it rained, and caused mold, we’re just focusing on the problem and saying, ‘Hey, landlord, you have to fix it,’” Wilson said. “How the cost of that gets resolved is outside of the scope of what I’m qualified to talk about.”
Brinderson also expressed concern about how tenants will be affected by this program. He believes the county can’t “prevent the cost burden to be leveled onto tenants” and therefore wants to inform tenants of the likelihood of their property being inspected.
“I perceived my responsibility here was to really just inform tenants of what was happening,” Brinderson said. “I think the best thing tenants can do is know their rights, know their lease, know what they’re responsible for and what they’re not responsible for. Because ultimately, I do expect landlords to try to get tenants to pay for things that they really shouldn’t [have to].”
However, Brinderson ultimately hopes to see an improvement in I.V. housing through this program.
“I’m going to graduate, but I just want tenants to know their rights, I want student leaders to stay involved. And I think Isla Vista will get better, but it’s going to be long, long, path ahead of us,” Brinderson said.
Gartner says she hopes the program will make students feel “empowered” and have a voice in the living conditions of I.V.
“We see this inspection program as a piece of our larger work to make Isla Vista really the wonderful place that it should be to live, to be a student here, to be a long-term resident here,” Gartner said.
