The City of Santa Barbara recently started a new pilot program to address illegal short-term housing rentals. It aims to tackle the problem of a severe housing shortage that Santa Barbara, like many coastal California cities, has been facing.
Sarah Knecht, Santa Barbara’s City Attorney, said the presence of short-term rental units, like Airbnb, has made the area’s housing shortage even worse.
“Owners of rental units have found that it's more economically advantageous to rent their units as a vacation rental for 30 days, or less, than for a longer term,” Knecht said.
To address this problem, the City launched a pilot program this month to crack down on short-term rentals that are operating outside specific zones where vacation rentals are allowed or that are breaking other laws.
“We will be enforcing and making sure that if there are short-term vacation rentals they are in compliance with the law,” Knecht said.
The City Attorney’s Office will oversee the 12-month program.
Danny Wei, the Assistant City Prosecutor, said the City is sending out investigators and using other tools to identify illegal short-term rentals in the area.
“It's not just going to be complaint-based,” Wei said. “There's going to be a proactive approach in trying to find illegal short-term rentals in unpermitted zones and trying to get people to voluntarily comply.”
Anyone who violates the short-term rental regulations will be given a chance to comply with the laws.
But Wei said if it ends up in court, violators could face a fine of up to $1000 or up to six months in jail for each violation.
A big part of the program is its hotline and website, where members of the community can report potential violations.
Wei said even though the program was launched just last week, several reports have already come in.
“The amount of cases already that has come in– it was a great response,” Wei said.
If you suspect a Santa Barbara property is being used for illegal short-term rentals, you can file a complaint and find the hotline number at the city’s website.
