After scrambling to find a place to live weeks into the school year, three Cal Poly undergraduates walked into their new rental house, excited to finally have a long-term place to live. However, their excitement quickly faded as they explored the 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom home.
A moldy stench filled the air, wood dust fell from the windowsills and small pieces of the popcorn ceiling crumbled to the floor. They investigated further and saw a broken window, fist-sized termite holes filled with white tissues – and a single piece of plywood shielding the house from outside elements.
After pointing out the significant discrepancies between the house’s condition as described in the lease and the actual state of the home, Madere and his three housemates were able to terminate their lease. They went back on the hunt for another place to live, marking their third time moving during fall quarter.
Problems like this have plagued young renters for years. San Luis Obispo has tried implementing various programs and policies to monitor rental housing conditions, but currently, it’s up to renters to report code violations. Many student renters feel that this complaint-based system doesn’t work and highlights power imbalances between tenants and landlords.
For those reasons, a group of Cal Poly students is taking matters into their own hands.
Roughly 30 students knocked on over 350 household doors near Cal Poly’s campus since April to raise awareness about renters’ rights. They hope to spark a conversation about tenant advocacy in SLO and encourage leaders to make tangible change.“We’re really interested in getting the word out about renter’s rights, making people aware of what they have at their disposal as a renter in SLO and then also trying to build momentum to eventually ask for some bigger changes from our local leaders,” political science junior Tyler Coari said.
Over the summer, Coari and seven other students spoke at the June 6 city council meeting. Coari shared his experiences going door to door talking to student renters, and the others shared their personal stories regarding housing in San Luis Obispo.
While their accounts varied from sickness caused by black mold to simply feeling unsafe and stuck in poor living conditions, they all pleaded for change regarding code enforcement and the protection of renters’ rights.
How it all started
Renters’ rights and the safety of rental units in San Luis Obispo have been a topic of debate for the past two decades. In 2013, 79% of all code enforcement violations within residential zones were from rental units.
In 2015, the SLO City Council passed Ordinance NO.1616, which established a Rental House Inspection Program (RHIP).
Under the RHIP, rental properties were subject to inspections once every three years. The city created a checklist outlining the criteria that rental properties are required to pass. Some parts of the list included working smoke detectors, properly functioning heaters and walls without peeling paint or deterioration.
In total, 915 rental units were inspected under the RHIP between May 2016 and Feb. 2017, but only 16% of the units passed during the first inspection.
While some groups, such as the Residents for Quality Neighborhoods, favored the program, it sparked much debate and backlash, primarily from landlords who were unhappy about paying what amounts to about an additional $120 per year in fees and the possibility of being forced to complete expensive repairs.
Some renters also feared they would lose their housing if inspectors found major violations or worried that rent prices would be raised if landlords tried to place the costs of repairs on renters, according to an investigation by The SLO Tribune. Others viewed the inspections as a violation of privacy.
Ultimately, the SLO City Council voted to repeal the program in 2017.
After its repeal, city staff sought alternative ways to promote safe housing without mandatory inspections. Staff members conducted community interviews, and feedback supported focus on safe housing and prioritizing code enforcement. Soon after, city staff presented recommendations to the City Council on code enforcement priorities, tools and a Safe Housing Outreach Program.
The Council supported most recommendations but rejected a voluntary inspection program. A Safe Housing Specialist position was created and briefly filled in late 2021 through early 2022 and again from April 2022 to Jan. 2023. During these periods, efforts were made to develop the Safe Housing Outreach and Education Program, including outreach to stakeholders and focus group sessions.
Program development stopped in 2023 due to staff vacancies, a hiring freeze and increased duties for existing staff. Recruitment for the vacant Safe Housing Specialist position is ongoing.
There are no mandatory inspections today, making code violation enforcement complaint-based. Renters can submit code enforcement requests via the Ask SLO mobile app, online or by phone.
Renters can submit code enforcement requests and violation reports anonymously. However, the complaint-based method still raises some concerns from students who worry about the consequences of requesting code enforcement, according to Coari.
In his time going door to door, Coari found that many students were hesitant to enforce their rights or even talk about their living situation for fear of losing their housing.
Some students expressed to Coari that they were willing to bear unsafe conditions if it meant being closer to campus or paying lower amounts in rent.
Sociology sophomore Maya Rodriguez had this mindset when choosing where to live. Her current house fits within her group’s price range and is an eight-minute drive from campus. However, the price and proximity to campus came with a cost: broken windows, inoperable light switches, broken smoke alarms and a balcony ridden with termite damage.
The group of four filled out their move-in condition form, hoping that property management would take care of the issues. Instead, they were ignored for weeks.
“They were very dismissive and told us that someone would be reaching out to us in a couple of days, but we never got anything,” Rodriguez said.
They called the property management company multiple times and even were hung up on. Fed up with the lack of action, they spoke to the managers in person and finally had a repairman fix a few of the house’s issues.
Unfortunately, many problems still weren’t addressed, such as the damage to the balcony. For now, the four roommates stay off of it to be safe.
“People just want to live near campus, they want to live near their friends, etcetera, so they’ll fight for that, and fighting for that may include living amongst black mold or living amongst a failing structure,” Coari said. “People are also very, very concerned that they’re going to face extreme backlash upwards of eviction from their landlord if they do take action, and rightfully so.”
Backlash is not unheard of, but it is illegal, according to attorney Frank Kopcinski, who has been involved with landlord/tenant cases for over five years.
“I would say that there’s always a risk if a tenant complains about anything to be retaliated against by the landlord, but there’s specific provisions within the law within the California civil code that make that illegal,” Kopcinski said.
In 2018, Kopcinski was a Directing Attorney at California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) in SLO. In his four years at CRLA, Kopcinski was involved in over 100 landlord/tenant disputes. He was also in charge of implementing the CRLA’s Fair Housing Initiative Program.
“There is a big lack of affordable housing in the county, and there is a trend of people not wanting to make complaints or really be forceful in enforcing their rights against their landlord because housing is very difficult to find,” Kopcinski said.
City’s current approach to the issue
In response to Coari and the seven other students sharing their thoughts and experiences at the June 6 meeting, the City Council requested a study session to inform City Council and the public about the current policy regarding code enforcement and plans moving forward.
While there are currently no plans to bring back mandatory inspections, the city is working to increase public outreach and education regarding renters’ rights and code enforcement, according to a recent staff report.
While waiting for the Safe Housing Specialist job to be filled, staff has initiated actions for near-term Safe Housing efforts, such as creating an informational guide and webpage for tenants and landlords, according to interviews with multiple sources.
“Absent any policy changes, I really think where the most positive change can happen is just us as a city doing what we can to think creatively about how we can make sure everyone — landlords, tenants, all renters — whether student or not have the information they need to make sure that they have a safe living environment,” City of SLO’s Director of Community Development Timothea Tway said.
Student response
Political science junior Diego Cervantez, who also spoke at the June 6 City Council meeting and knocked on doors alongside Coari, said he would like to see the return of a mandatory inspection program similar to the previous RHIP. But with critical changes to ensure that students living in unsafe housing are not left unhoused, he thinks that landlords should be responsible for providing temporary housing to their tenants if they are displaced due to extreme code violations found during inspections.
“The policy and the [mandatory inspections] are not putting people on the street. It’s the landlords and property managers who refuse to keep a habitable home for their tenants,” Cervantez said. “It’s just wrong to kick somebody out onto the street without providing them a plan because the person that was supposed to be ensuring their health and security in their living situation failed.”
What the students are working toward
Coari, Cervantez and others continue going door to door, attending regular meetings regarding housing, and working closely with SLO Rent Coalition. Moreover, they are working on social media outreach and forming partnerships with community groups to extend the message to as many people as possible.
Some of their goals include the creation of a tenants union and additional funding and support for organizations that advocate for renters. They hope to make the initiative a community-wide effort where all renters will work together and get involved. They believe that more voices are the key to expanding the movement, as it will pressure the city to pass additional laws to help address landlord/tenant power imbalances and keep renters safe.
“Nothing is going to change until every single person who pays rent and pays tuition in this city does something about it,” Cervantez said. “We need renters to organize our voices, and we need to organize our efforts in order to put pressure on the city and put pressure on the university to stop price gouging and stop forcing people to live in these unsafe housing conditions unless they go homeless.”
Currently, Cervantez, Coari and the other students involved in the initiative seek more people to help expand their reach. They’re seeking passionate renters to help with social media outreach, knocking on doors, attending SLO Rent Coalition meetings, and more.
Recognizing setbacks
While there are no current plans to bring back mandatory inspections, City Council members Andy Pease and Emily Francis said the current approach is not as effective as they’d hoped it would be.
“I think we can do a lot more,” Pease said. “I don’t think we’ve done what we want to be doing right now.”
Pease stands behind her vote against the RHIP, but said factors such as COVID-19 and staff shortages have affected the effectiveness of the city’s current education and outreach approach.
Francis, who took office after the vote to repeal the RHIP, shared a different take.
“I sort of lament the death of that program,” she said. “I think that had it remained in place, we would be looking at a much different situation citywide as far as the health and safety of our rental units.”
Francis said she doesn’t anticipate a return to mandatory inspections in the near distant future but suggested some alternate approaches for both the city and the community to take.
Francis and Pease agree that increasing housing inventory is a key part of solving the issues at hand.
“If we have a lot of housing, then landlords don’t have people trapped,” Pease said.