When Becky Kosovsky was in her sophomore year at UC Santa Barbara, she and her four roommates had to temporarily move out of their Isla Vista apartment because of black mold. 

The property manager placed Kosovsky and her roommates in a one-bedroom, one-bath apartment with only four beds for five people. Kosovsky and her roommates lived like this for a month, and while it was challenging, they dealt with it because they were told that they wouldn’t have to pay rent during this time. 

However, when they moved back to their actual apartment, they were charged the months of rent anyway. 

This led Kosovsky to the Isla Vista Rental Mediation Program. 

The program is run by the Isla Vista Community Services District and is designed to provide mutual housing mediation between tenants and landlords. 

The way the program works is that once a landlord or tenant fills out a request for mediation form on the IVCSD website, a mediator then reaches out to both parties, listens to their concerns, and helps to mediate a solution. 

In Kosovsky’s situation, she and her roommates, their parents, and the property managers met on Zoom with the mediator. 

“I think without the mediation program, we wouldn’t have gotten anywhere,” Kosovsky said. “I think that a lot of the Isla Vista property managers take advantage of students and don’t take us seriously.”

With the mediator, Kovosky and her roommates agreed to pay 50% of their rent; and while they were frustrated after being told that they wouldn’t have to pay anything, Kovosky said she doesn’t think they would have gotten it down to 50% without the mediator. 

Sydney Castaneda, who works for IVCSD and helps to manage the program, said most of the requests they receive are regarding interpersonal conflicts between roommates over habitability and paying rent. 

Castaneda said they’ve also gotten a few about ensuring safety among roommates. 

“One area that we really want to focus on is ensuring that people know who to call if they’re worried about the well-being of their housemate, or they’re feeling unsafe — whether they’re personally feeling unsafe, or they’re concerned about the well-being of their roommates,” Castaneda said. 

Myah Mashhadialireza, who also helps to manage the program, said one challenge in mediation is getting both parties to agree to come to the table and try to work things out. 

“​​If you have an issue and the person that you’re having an issue with isn’t willing to have that conversation, then that’s when we would recommend going towards Isla Vista Tenants Union for legal aid,” said Mashhadialireza.

“It’s really important for people to know you need both parties involved so you can come to an agreement.”

The rental mediation program doesn’t provide legal advice, but it has referred individuals to legal resources such as the Isla Vista Tenants Union.

While the program is small, Castaneda and Mashhadialireza have plans to expand it to include a way to provide legal advice to tenants directly and have more online resources available in Spanish.

Additionally, Castaneda and Mashhadialireza said they hope to collaborate more with the city of Santa Barbara’s Rental Housing Mediation Program. 

Michelle Roberson has not only been on the receiving end of mediation through the Isla Vista program, but has also been a mediator for Santa Barbara’s Rental Housing Mediation Program. 

As a property manager, Roberson was part of mediation in 2020 while trying to solve conflict between two tenants. 

“It was really great to be able to refer people to them,” Roberson said. 

Roberson said they like referring tenants to the program so they can come to an agreement that the property manager can then help the tenants with. 

“It’s great being able to say there’s a program you guys can work this out in, and once you figure it out we can help make it happen,” Roberson said. “That is the best thing that could happen for Isla Vista as a whole because there are a lot of roommates and people that share spaces that need some help with that.”

The Santa Barbara program has a board of 15 City Council-appointed volunteer mediators comprised of five landlords, five tenants, and five homeowners. The program started in 1976 and serves Santa Barbara, Carpinteria and Goleta. 

Like the Isla Vista program, mediation is free, conducted on Zoom, and doesn’t provide legal advice, but works with interested parties to develop a compromise they can agree on. During the 2023 fiscal year, they provided service to more than 1,200 parties. 

Most of the calls the staff receive are about terminating tenancy. Tenants will call asking about how to prevent their lease from being terminated, and landlords will ask about how to ensure a smooth termination and transfer. 

“It’s not always that the person wants to stay,” said Dan Herlinger, who’s been a mediator for 19 years. “In the mediations we’ve completed it was over how is this person going to leave, how much time was the landlord going to give? It’s not always about keeping a person where they are; it’s about how to have a good transition.”

Justin Dullum, a mediator for 16 years, said he sees the program as one way to prevent homelessness. 

“Some relationships just aren’t going to last and they need to be dissolved,” Dullum said. “A short amount of time to find new housing where we live is maybe impossible. So what we do is find a way for them to get more time so that their housing is consistent.”

Mediation is confidential, and mediators make it clear that they’re not an advocacy group, but instead an unbiased group to help work out a compromise. 

Dullum said that having a neutral party tends to put people at ease.

“I find the mediation process has a way of calming people’s worst ambitions and worst parts of their personality,” Dullum said. “There’s something really powerful about getting people in a room with neutral people running the conversation.

“That hot blood tends to cool off in that environment.”

Dullum said they see a wide variety of people seeking mediation — renters of all ages, people with disabilities, small landlords and big property management companies. 

The program didn’t receive annual funding from the city’s general fund until 2012. Before then, Dullum and Herlinger said they would have to seek out funding from various nonprofit groups.

Goleta, Santa Barbara and Carpinteria residents interested in mediation or who want to speak with staff about their concerns can call 805.564.5420. Walk-ins are also welcome weekdays from 8:30 a.m. till noon. 

Isla Vista Residents interested in mediation from the Isla Vista rental mediation program can sign up here or email islavistamediation@gmail.com with any questions.