A group of Isla Vista landlords have pushed back against Santa Barbara County’s pilot rental inspection program in Isla Vista. The program allows inspectors to examine properties for unsafe or unsanitary conditions without the county receiving formal complaints about them. The Isla Vista Rental Property Owners Association, a group formed in June of this year, filed a case against the county alleging that this program violates state laws and would force landlords to violate their tenants’ Fourth Amendment rights.
“The landlords in Isla Vista are fighting the recently enacted inspection ordinance because it is overly intrusive to the tenants, forces landlords to violate their tenants’ rights, and will likely result in many students losing their housing in an already impacted housing market,” said Jami Stelter, CEO of the association and an Isla Vista landlord.
The Board of Supervisors passed the ordinance that started the program in May, after which landlords had 45 days to register their property. Inspectors reached out to landlords to notify them of inspection dates about two weeks in advance, giving the opportunity to delay the inspection once.
The ordinance outlines that if a landlord refuses an inspection, the county can seek an inspection warrant or permission from tenants. In Isla Vista, tenants are overwhelmingly students.
The ordinance says an inspector can also enter the property if they suspect it is “so hazardous, unsafe, or dangerous as to require immediate inspection.”
In past meetings, the county said it would start inspections on Del Playa Drive. The inspections come after reports of substandard housing conditions on the party street that snakes along the side of I.V.’s bluffs.
On July 30, Judge Donna Geck denied a preliminary injunction to stop the inspection program.
Supervisor Laura Capps represents Isla Vista along with Goleta and most of Santa Barbara. She said the lawsuit filed is “deeply disappointing.”
“Some Isla Vista landlords would rather spend their profits on litigation than on maintaining safe, livable homes,” Capps said.
Along with the injunction, the association has asked the court to find the program unconstitutional and stop it permanently. This request remains.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated on 8/16/2025 with a correction. The article initially said the complaint alleged the rental inspection program violated landlords’ Fourth Amendment rights; it actually alleged that the program would force landlords to violate their tenants’ Fourth Amendment rights. Also, a quote by Laura Capps was initially misattributed to Judge Donna Geck in the photo caption of this story.
