Substandard of Living: Southern California's Most Controversial Landlord

Dario Pini calls himself a savior of Santa Barbara’s working class, housing thousands of mainly low-income Latino families in his hundreds of apartment buildings. Amid the state’s affordable housing crisis, he says they would otherwise be homeless. But the City of Santa Barbara—and many of his tenants—have a different take on Pini. The City Attorney is now taking Pini to court in an effort to shut down a landlord that for years people have called a slumlord, not a savior.  And as we discover, Santa Barbara is not the only city struggling with problem property owners. “SoCal Connected” talks exclusively to Dario Pini, taking a guided tour with him at a few properties he claims are “great”—and confronting him directly as we dig deeper for the truth.