Two of Isla Vista’s larger property management companies have begun cracking down on partying in Isla Vista during the coronavirus pandemic, representatives of both Sierra Property Management and Wolfe & Associates confirmed. 

Michelle Roberson, president of Sierra Property Management, told Noozhawk that the company had terminated a lease with six tenants in a house on Del Playa Drive in Isla Vista after the company received several complaints, as well as videos and photos, of tenants in the house partying.

Roberson said all six tenants in the Del Playa Drive residence must vacate the property by the end of September. 

Gatherings are currently prohibited by the public health order in place. 

“We spoke with our residents there — this wasn’t the first time that we knew they were having parties. We had talked to them the week prior about not engaging in large gatherings,” Roberson said.

She explained that after the company had a further discussion with the tenants about the activities, the tenants, the management company and the owner of the property came to a “mutual agreement” that the tenants would vacate the property. 

“If they were not going to agree to move, then we would have proceeded with legal action,” she said. 

Roberson said this wasn’t the only property that the management company had received complaints about in recent weeks regarding parties and violations of the public health orders. 

Similarly, Wolfe & Associates has begun to crack down on parties.

Chris Mercier from Wolfe & Associates confirmed that while the company does not currently have any evictions in place due to violations of the public health order, the company was notified recently that residents of one of their property had posted flyers around Isla Vista, advertising for a party. 

The company then sent all residents of that building – also located on Del Playa Drive – and the lease guarantors a notice that “proceeding with the event is both a violation of their lease agreement… as well as a potential violation of state and county COVID-19 mandates,” Mercier said. 

“This was our first experience with this particular issue under COVID restrictions, and while we hope we can stop this event from happening, we are prepared to pursue all legal means necessary to protect the rights of the others in the building and the neighbors in the community from being subject to this kind of behavior,” he said. 

Isla Vista has seen a rise in cases over the summer, and as UC Santa Barbara students have begun to return to the college town as the start of school approaches.

As of Monday, there had been 214 confirmed cases in Isla Vista – 11 of those still considered infectious – and 8,930 in Santa Barbara County as a whole.

— Noozhawk contributing writer Evelyn Spence can be reached at news@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.