Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tenant Rights topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tenants at 205 Bass Street say they will withhold rent, urge Santa Barbara to stop harassment and force repairs
Summary
Fourteen remaining tenants at 205 Bass Street announced a rent strike, accused the property’s new owners of harassment and asked the city to pursue repairs and halt eviction filings; speakers asked the city to dismiss pending unlawful-detainer actions and enforce housing-code and electrical-safety repairs.
Stanley Thankeop, speaking for a tenant coalition, told the council that the remaining 14 tenants at 205 Bass Street began a rent strike and asked the city to take action against the property owners and managers they named.
"Los inquilinos originales y restantes de catorce aquí en doscientos cinco Bass Street están pidiendo a los propietarios y a la ciudad de Santa Bárbara que detengan el acoso que hemos sufrido durante más de un año y realicen reparaciones, no desalojos," Thankeop said, reading a prepared statement and saying tenants have offered access for repairs but allege the owners intend to displace them.
Speakers named the property owner entity as Twenty Five Basse LLC and individual principals James Knapp, Austin Erli and Chris Parker. They asked the city to dismiss what they called illegal eviction filings, complete electrical repairs so the building meets code, and take other measures to prevent what tenants said was ongoing harassment.
The tenants said they represent a cross-section of the local workforce — hotel workers, landscapers, nurses and retirees — and described the action as both a defense of their homes and a test case to protect other renters in the city. Tenant representatives said the city has pursued legal action against property managers in the past but asked for additional policy tools to limit rent increases or prevent displacement following continued landlord conduct.
Council received the comments during the public-comment period; no formal council motion or enforcement action was recorded at the meeting, though the remarks noted the city has taken some legal steps previously against property managers.
