In its first year, the team of special investigators tasked with getting a handle on Santa Barbara’s illegal short-term rentals collected more than $595,000 from just 40 properties operating unpermitted rentals in the city. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, and after the one-year pilot program was deemed a success by the city council Tuesday, the enforcement team has the green light to go after the estimated 1,147 illegal rentals that are known to be still out there.
The short-term rental enforcement team released the numbers earlier this week : an estimated 1,298 illegal rentals discovered through an online database; 106 cases from citizen complaints and 46 cases found through proactive enforcement; 25 cases currently in the court system. And most impressive of all, the program spent so judiciously that it only used a fraction of its budget — under $100,000 of its allotted $1.175 million.
City Attorney Assistant City Attorney Denny Wei and City Attorney’s Office Investigator William Alva provided the city council on April 16 with an update on the enforcement program’s first year.