Edhat Staff
The Santa Barbara City Council meeting on Tuesday was filled with tenants and landlords to discuss added protections to renters.
The City Attorney’s Office recommended the council adopt amendments to Municipal Codes that protect renters who have been displaced due to renovations and protections from harassment.
The City Council voted 6-1 to approve offering tenants the first right of refusal following an eviction to complete a renovation.
The ordinance also clarifies “harassment” to include landlords failure to upkeep the property in order to evict a tenant and misrepresenting when a tenant must leave the property.
However, there are no restrictions on how much the landlord can increase the rent following the renovation. Tenants at the meeting were asking for a 10% rental increase cap.
Councilmember Meagan Harmon opposed the ordinance stating it eliminated the most important element to protect tenants.
Tenants argued that property developers and landlords will evict tenants to renovate properties, also known as “renovictions,” but will make minor repairs only to re-list the property for a much higher rental price. Landlords countered that rents will need to increase to cover the cost of repairs.
The discussion also centered on the difference between property owners with a few units, dubbed “Mom & Pop” owners, compared to corporate landlords that own and operate multiple buildings. The mom-and-pop landlords argued the changes would force them out of the market making the housing crisis worse.
Tenants and activists countered the changes are only expanding upon the ordinance already in place and would prevent further evictions.
“We know and expect rents to be high here in Santa Barbara. Rents here on average are already 126% higher than the national median, according to Zillow five days ago,” said Asher. “The average rent for a 1 bedroom here is about $3,000 and to submit an acceptable application in most cases a household has to provide three-times the rental rate in monthly income or $120-140,000 per year minimum for family housing… The median income in [Santa Barbara] is $40,000.”
More local government playing the role of nanny state by regulating private property. All this does is make landlords rethink putting their property on the rental market. Net affect is higher rents, fewer available units.
Journalism is difficult 😂
So is making a relevant comment
As a “Mom and Pop” landlord on a little bungalow in SB, I think this is a very slippery slope.
Landlords LOVE good tenants but should retain the right to get rid of the bad ones. I have had to get rid of people faking insurance claims on the property and others drug dealing out of the property and growing pot when it was not legal. If I feel forced to keep a bad tenant, I will just sell and then there will be less affordable housing!
Saying the rents are 126% higher here than the nation is ridiculous as so are the real estate prices!
We live in one of the most fabulous places in the world. Why does anyone think that will be cheap…
This ordinance only applies to “just cause” evictions for renovations , not evictions due to property damage or illegal behavior. So the drug dealers and insurance scammers would fall under a different legal precedent for eviction that has nothing to do with this.