Santa Monica Demands Accountability. Good.

You can tell where LA ends and Santa Monica begins without having to look at the street signs - I can, anyway. Santa Monica is noticeably cleaner, and there are relatively few blighted properties. More on that in a minute.

Santa Monica isn’t perfect. The homelessness issue is quite well known. I’ve heard concerning things about some city employees from another city employee (who I will not name). And it could be friendlier to businesses (although in my personal experience, it’s mostly easier to deal with Santa Monica than Los Angeles). But I am damn proud of Santa Monica, and I’ll tell you why.

A couple of months ago, Santa Monica passed a new law requiring owners of vacant properties to register them with the city by July 1, 2026 (or within 30 days of becoming vacant).

There are at least 167 vacant buildings in Santa Monica. Roughly half of them have been allowed to fall into disrepair. The ordinance specifically calls out absentee owners, who may live far from Santa Monica or even outside of California, and thus aren’t likely to be paying attention to their properties.

Owners of vacant properties will now be required to file a Trespass Arrest Authorization with the Santa Monica Police Department, which should make it easier to remove vandals and squatters.

Owners will also be required to fix or replace broken or missing fencing, deal with trash, graffiti, and weeds, mitigate insect or rodent infestations, and keep vehicles off the premises (unless there is City approval) - in other words, perform basic maintenance that responsible property owners handle without having to be cited first.

Some properties will be required to have security lighting, surveillance cameras, and possibly even security patrols. Owners will also have to pay a monitoring fee.

Good. LA should start taking notes instead of just letting bad property owners get away with neglect.

But wait, there’s more!

Santa Monica is also suing a family of landlords who stand accused of violating local housing law. The Enayati family owns more than two dozen rent-controlled properties, and according to the suit, illegally converted dozens of apartments into short-term rentals, netting some $18 million in just five years.

I highly recommend reading the linked article, but here’s a damning excerpt:

After long-term tenants vacated rent-controlled units, the defendants would list the apartments on Airbnb for stays typically lasting between 31 and 100 days rather than advertising them for long-term rental, according to the lawsuit.

The defendants allegedly had guests book their actual intended short-term stays through Airbnb but then required them to sign separate one-year lease agreements the landlords never intended to enforce.

Having experience in property management, I am aware that rent control can contribute to maintenance issues and can de-incentivize renters from moving when it might be appropriate to do so (i.e. empty nesters downsizing). Regardless, it is still the law in Santa Monica, and property owners who do not want to deal with rent control have always had the option of buying properties in places that do not have rent control.

In any case, turning badly needed rental housing into vacation rentals in an already-tough market is selfish at best, and in a case as egregious as this one, a better descriptor might be “diabolical”.

Santa Monica is taking a stand for accountability, and hopefully other cities will follow its lead. Start taking notes, Los Angeles.