Tenants of a West Beach apartment complex at 215 Bath Street have initiated a rent strike to protest what they describe as poor living conditions and unfair eviction practices by their new landlords.
The conflict escalated following the acquisition of the 52-unit complex by the Koto Group, who issued termination notices to long-standing residents shortly after taking over in September 2023.
During last week’s public comments at the Santa Barbara City Council meeting, tenants described 40 previous tenants were pushed out and replaced by 30 international students in 10 units paying up to $3,000 per bed.
In an open letter the tenants allege that they have been subjected to continuous harassment and disruptive renovations aimed at forcing them out—a practice commonly referred to as “renovictions.” They said utilities have been routinely shut off and personal belongings outside were rounded up and thrown away.
“Our association and its members are united in this: we would like nothing more than to return to a state where all concerned continually meet our obligations, but you continue to fail to uphold your end of the bargain. For these reasons, we will collectively withhold our rent payments until our reasonable and legally-supported list of demands has been met,” the letter states.
In response to these issues, tenants, with the backing of the Santa Barbara Tenants Union and Legal Aid Foundation, have pushed for stronger tenant protections under the city’s just-cause ordinance.
This advocacy has sparked legal confrontations; the city attorney’s office has filed criminal charges against James Knapp, a member of the Koto Group, for evicting tenants without just cause.
In counteraction, Knapp lodged his own civil lawsuit against the city, filed on July 18 in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, accusing Santa Barbara of obstructing his legal rights to access the judicial system for resolution of eviction processes.
Their declaration of a rent strike is a call for better treatment and recognition of their ongoing challenges, rather than mere resistance against eviction. They demand fair negotiations and immediate remediation of the living conditions as part of their rent strike declaration.
Knapp and the City of Santa Barbara are due in court on Monday, February 3 to address the misdemeanor charges.
Related Articles
https://www.edhat.com/news/legal-battles-intensify-over-santa-barbara-renovictions-at-bath-street-apartments/
https://www.edhat.com/news/santa-barbara-property-manager-faces-criminal-charges-over-just-cause-evictions/
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so you’re blaming SBCC for this? Does SBCC own the property and are a part of Koto Group? No. Koto has a long history in SB of doing this type of thing.
these gripes from IcherishSB, RHS, Basic are a bit much and very misdirected. This isn’t SBCC’s doing. To insinuate so is ridiculous.
UCSB, SBCC, Music Academy of the West, Westmont, and others all attract out of state, county. SB itself attracts out of town, county, state, country. You’re acting like this is something new? I’ve been a renter in this town since 1987. This has been happening since before that time.
Your frustration should be with the City Council and the Koto Group.
This is one side of the coin, on the other side you have educated tenants deliberately holding small landlords who can barely keep their homes due to never ending cost increases hostage and theses very homeowners cannot even make decisions about their own homes of decades. Some sadly will be loosing their homes here in Santa Barbara due to the already gut wrenching decision of the city council to apply the same rules and standards for corporations and private home owners alike who can’t afford any dispute, let alone rent stops. If the city council will not impose a dire needed urgent decision to exclude small landlords, that housing stock of too many locals who worked very hard all their lives to pay and maintain their homes, may well go up on the market to be bought up by people who can afford to not rent at all and hence reducing the tight rental market here further and buyers that are corporations like Blackrock and StateStreet who already bought vast areas of the country’s single family housing stock, will swoop in..all while decades long small homeowners will be displaced and forced to move out of Santa Barbara. Corporate slavery and draconian rules might as well be in all our future unless the city council wakes up and sees the grave error and despair they caused. Reversing their nuclear decision asap to exclude small landlords in their rulings is the least they can do at this point
Frankly, I am amazed nobody has sued them yet over this, but then again, small landlords barely have money to maintain their places these days, let alone pay a mountain of legal fees. Where is the Justice and why is the city council indirectly supporting to push small homeowners who rent to supplement, out of Santa Barbara?
For the record, I am a Santa Barbara renter.
This is the direct consequence of SBCC’s constant recruitment of out of area and out of state enrollment. The loss of local rental opportunities for workers and families to high paying affluent student tourism is a real result of SBCC’s unwillingness to accept its purpose as a local community campus.
Totally agree.
Good point. Its been a while since someone has brought up out of state, and international students. SBCC should consider our local residents first. Afterall, its our tax money they seek on a regular basis.