Tenant Association for 215 Bath Street apartment complex declares rent strike against ownership group
SANTA BARBARA, Calif – After a series of rental disputes, tenants at the West Beach apartments located at 215 Bath Street announced they will go on a rent strike until their demands are met.
In a letter written by the 215 Bath Tenant Association and shared with Your News Channel, they explain how numerous acts of negligence, disruption from construction, removal of amenities, and threats of evictions have forced them into action.
The rent strike began February 1st.
"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." - Letter from the 215 Bath Street Tenant Association
Members of the tenant association held a news conference outside the apartment building Sunday afternoon.
“We are a diverse working class of Santa Barbara, and we take this action united and committed to ourselves and this city,” tenant Corina Svacina said.
During the conference, a list of demands was read which included drop all detainer complaints, ceasing all disparate treatment between tenants and addressing multiple safety concerns including fire and electrical.
Svacina gave Your News Channel a tour of the property, describing hazardous living conditions.
“The tenants here at 215 Bath apartments are calling for the property owners and the city of Santa Barbara to stop the harassment we've endured for over a year and a half and make repairs, not evictions,” tenant Lisa Haworth said.
“For months, we had holes where you could see the unit above. The electricity for Building C is currently running on a gas generator because the electrical system isn't set up,” Svacina said. “They were doing a lot of dry cutting with granite—there's definitely a lot of dust everywhere, a lot of debris, trash everywhere. In December, my neighbors had their patio furniture and outdoor plants removed because they were told it was a fire hazard. But as you can see, this is E-F with their entire closet outside on the balcony, and that's not considered a fire hazard to the owners?”
Education First students, who are studying abroad, were also affected. Many had their clothes drying outside.
As the tour concluded, Svacina reiterated the tenants' demands.
“We've made it clear: Either the landlords need to take action and make this place habitable, or the city needs to take action and tell the landlords, ‘We see what you're doing to the community—you’re evicting people wrongly so that you can put more people in,’” she said.
Tensions began back in September 2023 when new owners – James Knapp, Austin Herlihy, and Chris Parker- took over the 52-unit property and started handing out eviction notices to longtime tenants.
After some residents received eviction notices, the City of Santa Barbara filed criminal charges against property manager James Knapp alleging he terminated tenancy without just cause, failed to comply with the City’s Just Cause Ordinance, and failed to serve proper permits.
In response, Knapp filed a civil suit against the City of Santa Barbara and on Friday, Jan. 31, a hearing over those civil claims was held.
According to Knapp's attorney Robert Forouzandeh, "the Civil Court ruled [Friday] that it will not consider or rule on the merits of the civil case until after the criminal case against Mr. Knapp is concluded."
Mr. Knapp and the City of Santa Barbara are due in court over those misdemeanor charges on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025.
