Our History

Isla Vista tenants have been working together to demand respect and fair treatment from landlords, the County, and the University as far back as the early 1970s. While the level of tenant organizing has fluctuated in the past, the current Isla Vista Tenants Union was built by a surge of action after 36 Latino families were evicted from the Colonial, Balboa, and Cortez apartment buildings in the summer of 1998. A coalition of students and evicted tenants recognized the need to educate and empower tenants, and a year later formed the Isla Vista Tenants Union under UCSB Associated Students.