Council narrows renoviction loophole: adds rent cap on return, contractor verification and one‑year cooling period

The Santa Barbara City Council voted April 22 to amend the city’s just‑cause eviction chapter (SBMC Chapter 26.5) to add three changes intended to reduce so‑called “renovictions”: a limit on rent increases for a returning tenant, independent verification when owners claim a remodel requires tenant relocation, and a one‑year cooling‑off period following a change of ownership before a no‑fault eviction for demolition or substantial remodel may begin.

Assistant City Attorney Dan Henschke told the council the ordinance change is narrow: it would not apply to newly constructed units (a rolling 15‑year exemption), owner‑occupied single‑family residences that rent two or fewer units, hotels, dormitories operated by educational institutions or deed‑restricted affordable housing. “What the proposed amendment would do is limit the rent that could be charged to a tenant upon exercising the right of first refusal,” Henschke said. Under staff’s draft, the return rent would be the preexisting rent increased by the change in the consumer price index (CPI) plus 5 percent, capped at a 10 percent increase.

Key changes approved

- Cap on return rent: If a tenant is displaced for a substantial remodel and then…