Edhat Staff
Dario Pini featured in KCET investigative report
By edhat staff
The City of Santa Maria reached a settlement with landlord Dario Pini this week over an “unprecedented” amount of code violations
In 2017, Santa Maria filed a lawsuit after more than 4,000 code violations were reported at Pini’s properties. The city stated that some of the repairs have been completed since the 2017 filing, but Pini is to continue completing the repairs on his complexes which will then be inspected.
The agreement includes a compliance monitor to supervise the repairs which will be completed under judicial oversight, reports KEYT.
Pini is also expected to pay for the City of Santa Maria’s legal expenses, approximately $336,000.
The initial violations included plumbing leaks, mold, insect and rodent infestations, electrical hazards, unpermitted building, and more.
Pini was the subject of an investigative report by KCET in 2017 as well. The landlord referred to himself as a “savior of Santa Barbara’s working-class” by providing low-cost housing. Pini agreed to the interview but asked the reporter to leave his properties when she tried to tour them. The full video is available here.
Related Articles
- October 23, 2017 – Dario Pini Featured in KCET Video Report
- September 24, 2017 – Landlord Dario Pini Faces Another City Lawsuit
Uh-huh. “The Savior.” I love it. Several years back I witnessed three families = 14 people all living in a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment of Pini’s. He’s a real hero, all right.
I am not a Pini fan but folks don’t have to rent from him….they all seem happy to sign up and continue to stay.
Without Pini, where would those people live? He is the only landlord in town who looks the other way for situations that allow very low income residents to remain here and mow your lawn. They are happy to rent from him for very long terms because they have no other options. Are you doing something to help make housing affordable, or are you just watching the listings and lusting over your home’s value?
Very true, Monkeyboy. I just wish that the places he rented out were maintained just a little bit more. Nobody should have to deal with long term leaks, mold, and bedbug infestations, no matter how low the rent is. Landlords need to help their tenants live safely in their properties.
He does something no other person in town does…provide truly affordable housing and it’s as ugly as you might think.
According to someone on facebook who used to work for him, much of the damage is caused by the tenants themselves. Improper food storage, tarps on patios that cause interior mold, everyday damage you might expect from having 8 people living in a 2 bedroom apartment.
Someone who used to work for him? Reliable? Pini stole building materials from a construction site downtown a couple years ago, offered some lame explanation when he got caught. Some years ago he stole big blocks of sandstone from a retaining wall on Mountain Drive to use at his own residence. The guy is incorrigible!
Is that really the choice we have? Move away or cram ourselves into apartments with double and triple the number of people that are supposed to live there, in sometimes horrid conditions? I wonder if he is still pulling down a profit after fighting all of the lawsuits?
I just have to laugh – never thought I’d see the day when a slumlord is defended. Typical GOP rhetoric. This is someone who realized that it is cheaper to pay fines than it is to adequately maintain safe buildings. You can read of many of the legal problems online and easily determine his motive is not to maintain low income housing because he is a saint.
Not in defense of Pini, but renters *can* fix many issues on their own if they want things to be better, while keeping the rent down.
BUG GIRL: We have bedbug infestations in Santa Barbara?
MONKEYBOY. So, in effect, you’re lauding this creep for giving illegals a place to stay in Santa Barbara? And, yeah. I mow my own lawn and wash my own dishes, too.
Its funny how you are all quick to slam him, because most of you are fortunate enough to live in a perfect home with no issues but when your backs against the wall and you need a place to stay its better than staying under the overpass. Sure its not perfect living but there are ways to fix the rodent and insect issues. He is a savior of Santa Barbara working class because he provides affordable living when low income housing has wait lists for years. Plus the people living in these places are known to pack in 8 or 9 people into a 2 bedroom apartment. Maybe some of you with silver spoons in your mouths need a reality check.
Spot on man, these people have obviously never fallen on hard times.
Anyone who uses “THE WALL” to procure day labor is perpetuating the situation as much as Pini. Those houses he rents out are on a par for conditions in Mexico. No surprise that the illegals live in the same squalor they came from.