The Californer - SBRPA To File Legal Challenge To Halt Temporary Santa Barbara Rent Freeze Ordinance

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The Santa Barbara City Council voted at its January 13, 2026 meeting to enact a Temporary Rent Increase Moratorium Ordinance.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Californer -- Calling the City of Santa Barbara's temporary rent freeze ordinance illegal, the Santa Barbara Rental Property Association (SBRPA) is taking legal action against the city to invalidate the freeze, according to Cappello & Noël LLP, the law firm representing the association

The Santa Barbara City Council voted at its January 13, 2026 meeting to enact a Temporary Rent Increase Moratorium Ordinance. The rent freeze began 30 days following the second City Council reading, and went into effect on February 26. The city also directed its staff to draft a permanent "rent stabilization" program that would go into effect by the end of the year.

The SBRPA contends that the rent freeze and proposed rent stabilization program represent an unconstitutional taking and violate the due process and equal protection clauses, as well as unlawfully interfering with private contracts prohibited by the Contracts Clause.

SBRPA retained Cappello & Noël to pursue legal recourse to invalidate the temporary freeze, as well as halt work on the permanent ordinance.

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According to a statement by the SBRPA: "In an astonishing display of constitutional disregard, the Santa Barbara City Council proposed in October rent control with a rent cap tied to just 60% of CPI—a policy that represents nothing less than the unconditional surrender of property rights. In addition, the City Council then passed, on a 4-3 vote, a rent freeze that deprives landlords of a Fair Market Return on investments. Wrapped in the language of 'rent stabilization,' the proposals directly violate established law, ignore economic reality, and mislead tenant advocacy groups into believing the city has authority it simply does not possess."

"Rising taxes, insurance and maintenance costs are hitting property owners hard," says Barry Cappello, Cappello & Noël managing partner. "Rent stabilization is bad economics. Owners need a return on their investment even as costs rise and must keep their property in a first-rate and safe condition. Rent control has proven over the years that when housing stock is not maintained, housing conditions for the tenants worsen."

Cappello says, "We intend to follow this process through to the end and make sure either the City Council rights this wrong or a court with proper jurisdiction orders it stricken."