Santa Barbara County, CA Rental Inspections: Inspection Programs (2026)

The pilot program (Sec. 13, adopted by Ord. No. 5270 on November 18, 2025) covers only the unincorporated community of Isla Vista, bounded by El Colegio Road, Camino Majorca and W. Campus Point Lane, Ocean Road and the UCSB campus, and the Pacific Ocean shoreline; it does not reach any other unincorporated part of the county or the incorporated cities. The Planning and Development Department administers the program under Sec. 3, and every owner of a residential rental housing unit inside that boundary, including single-family homes, ADUs, duplexes and apartment buildings, must register on a department form under Sec.

5. Once registered, the director or designee may inspect a unit periodically or after a complaint under Sec. 6, applying the building and housing code standard in effect when the unit was legally built, altered or converted; unpermitted work must meet current code. Owners get at least fifteen business days' notice of a scheduled inspection by certified mail or personal service, may reschedule once without penalty, and must be present or arrange tenant access. Newly constructed buildings (certificate of occupancy within the last three years) and government-subsidized units already subject to routine inspection by another agency are exempt from routine inspection under Sec.

7, though the exemption can be revoked if complaints arise. The program is a twelve-month pilot: it took effect thirty days after Board approval, and the Board reviews the first year's results before deciding whether to extend, modify or repeal it under Sec. 12. Inspection fees are waived for the first year under Sec. 13.