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Tenants and advocates press Santa Barbara council for post-remodel rent caps amid wave of renoviction complaints
Summary
Multiple Bath Street tenants and tenant-advocacy groups told the City Council that renovictions and buyer-driven displacement have forced long-term residents from rental housing and urged adoption of post-remodel rent caps, an eviction moratorium and an expedited rent-freeze to protect local workforce and families affected by recent fires in Los
Dozens of residents and tenant advocates used the Santa Barbara City Council’s Jan. 28 public comment period to describe a pattern of alleged “renovictions” and harassment at multiple rental properties—most prominently a cluster on Upper Bath Street and the 215 Bath complex—and to urge immediate local action.
Speakers described similar accounts: new owners or out-of-town management declining to cash rent checks, serving eviction notices (which some tenants said were procedurally flawed), offer buy-outs, carrying out long delays in maintenance, and replacing affordable long-term tenants with higher-rent occupants or short-term student beds. Several speakers said they and their neighbors are essential workers—teachers, home-health aides, nurses, hotel workers—and that displacement threatens the local workforce. One speaker said some neighbors are participating in a rent strike to protest alleged harassment and chronic habitability problems.
What residents asked for: Many called on the council to move urgently on these items (some tied to emergency declarations triggered by Southern California wildfires): a temporary rent freeze or eviction moratorium for displaced households; a locally enacted cap on post-remodel rents (often called a ‘right-of-return’ cap); more enforcement and faster action on habitability complaints; and legal support for tenants facing buyouts or notices. Tenant groups argued a predictable local housing contribution—such as a baseline deposit into the Local Housing Trust Fund—would also help produce more deed-restricted housing.
City response and legal context: During the same meeting the city administrator and staff described a range of funding, legal and program tools available to the city (Measure I, Local Housing Trust Fund, CDBG and other federal/state grants). Staff warned that some federal funding was under temporary administrative review and that state matching programs often require local matching funds to be available before an application is filed. The city did not take formal action on tenant requests at the Jan. 28 meeting; councilmembers asked staff to return with budgetary options and legal implications during the upcoming FY2026 budget process.
Provenance: This article summarizes successive public-comment statements given during the council’s general public comment block (Jan. 28) and the follow-up testimony during the Measure I item. Speakers included multiple tenants (Peggy Nicholson, Declan Claus, Veronica Strauss, Laura Stevens, and others) and representatives of the Santa Barbara Tenants Union and community organizations.
