After hours of testimony Tuesday, the Santa Barbara City Council voted to create a “just cause” eviction ordinance, rejecting two years’ worth of negotiations and compromise by the council-appointed Landlord/Tenant Task Force.  

Although they sound innocuous, so-called “just cause” ordinances require rental property owners to prove a cause in court or before a political body every time they need to remove a problem resident. 

This makes it very difficult to remove tenants who have no regard for their neighbors, destroy the property, and tenants who are involved in illegal activity. As a result, communities suffer the consequences as nuisance conditions are not easily remedied.  

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