This new tenant association is determined to help residents at The Sweeps and end “renovictions.”
by Zuri Wilson
ISLA VISTA, Calif. — CBC & The Sweeps, an apartment complex in Isla Vista, administered 60-day eviction notices to all tenants on March 16 telling them to leave due to renovations.
The Sweeps currently houses over 550 residents consisting of students, lower income families and Spanish-speaking tenants who are now all seeking housing for the upcoming year, according to the Santa Barbara Independent.
These lease termination notices, coined “renovictions” by residents, come after Core Spaces— a multi-million dollar real estate firm— bought out CBC & the Sweeps for $91 million. In response to this acquisition and the resulting mass evictions, residents at CBC & The Sweeps came together to form the Core Spaces Tenant Association with the mission of ending “renovictions” and protecting tenant’s rights.
The tenant association accomplished a major victory on April 6 when the county voted to implement a “just cause” ordinance that requires landlords to present renovation permits before they can begin the eviction process.
But, their mission does not end there. In a letter to Core Spaces, the tenant association referred to these mass evictions as a “humanitarian crisis” and accused Core Spaces of prioritizing profit maximization at the expense of the existing communities living in the apartment complex.
To watch the full story and learn more about Isla Vista’s housing crisis and the Core Spaces Tenant Association’s mission, watch the full episode here.