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San Buenaventura adopts anti‑harassment ordinance to strengthen tenant protections
Summary
After stakeholder workshops and Planning Commission review, the City Council unanimously approved an ordinance defining landlord harassment, creating civil‑penalty and administrative‑citation pathways, and funding education and mediation through the Housing Rights Center and partner organizations.
The San Buenaventura City Council unanimously approved an anti‑harassment ordinance intended to give tenants a local enforcement pathway and to clarify landlord responsibilities.
Staff described a multi‑year process: direction from the council under Housing Element Program 32, stakeholder workshops with landlords, tenant advocates and property managers, Planning Commission review, and a housing‑subcommittee review. The proposed ordinance defines tenant harassment as intentional conduct by a property owner designed to intimidate, annoy, harass, injure, provoke or vex a person that serves no lawful purpose. It also carves out routine, good‑faith lease enforcement and ordinary notices from being treated as harassment.
Key provisions include: civil remedies for tenants with damages and civil penalties (staff cited $2,000–$10,000 ranges and higher penalties for tenants who are seniors or disabled), an administrative citation schedule for enforcement officers tied to habitability and related violations, and a voluntary mediation and education program administered with the Housing Rights Center. Staff emphasized that the ordinance does not prevent lawful evictions and is designed to address bad actors while supporting educational outreach to tenants and property owners.
Public commenters represented a range of views: tenant advocates (Cause/CCAUSE, Ventura Tenants Union) urged adoption and said the ordinance fills gaps in state law, while landlord representatives (VCC Association of Realtors, Apartment Association/AGLA) urged caution about unintended consequences, attorney‑fee provisions, and potential for frivolous claims; multiple speakers noted the ordinance followed a collaborative stakeholder process.
Council members praised the extensive outreach that produced a compromise, highlighted the complementary role of mediation, and asked staff about enforcement sequencing and penalty amounts. With that context, the council moved and approved staff’s recommendation (first reading and to bring the ordinance back for a second reading as scheduled) by a 7–0 vote.
What’s next: staff will continue education and outreach via the Ventura Housing Connections series and Housing Rights Center office hours, and will return with adoption steps as required.
Representative quote: “This policy is fundamentally about behavior and accountability,” said Christian Nunes of Cause, summarizing tenant‑advocate support for clear, enforceable standards.
