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Santiago Canyon College seminar tackles tenant-landlord issues

May 14, 2026

Imagine trying to study for a final exam when you have no idea where you’ll be sleeping that night. Since students, like all rental tenants, can experience housing insecurity for any number of reasons, it’s essential that they understand their rights and responsibilities when entering into a legal agreement with their landlord.

“Good Lease Vibes Only,” a 90-minute seminar provided on March 25 by Santiago Canyon College’s Real Estate Department, examined these rights and responsibilities, which differ for tenants and property owners. While this is the first SCC tenant/landlord event of its kind, future seminars will tackle this issue from different perspectives, furnishing critical information and advice from professionals in a variety of real estate specialties.

The next seminar will take place in the fall, said Jovannys Mejia, coordinator of SCC’s The Hawk’s Nest: Basic Needs Center.

“Given the recent rise in housing insecurity, we looked specifically at tenant rights, since students facing eviction were coming to us for help,” Mejia said. “That’s why we reached out to experts on campus.”

The first expert Mejia contacted was Alana Gates, SCC professor of real estate and chair of the college’s Real Estate Department. “Jovannys mentioned that students were put in situations by their landlords, and (the renters) didn’t understand what was going on,” Gates said. “We determined that they needed material presented to them in a clear, understandable fashion.”

Providing this information in an easily accessible manner was essential. After all, “California Tenants: A Guide to Tenants’ and Landlords’ Rights and Responsibilities” is a 156-page document published by the California Department of Real Estate that’s packed with complex details. “It’s hard for the average person to understand this,” Mejia said of the publication, which was made available to all seminar attendees. “There are so many complicated components to housing.”

“I’ve been doing this for over 20 years,” said Gates, who has served on the Professional Standards Committee of Orange County Realtors, the local association of the National Association of Realtors. “When I started working with tenants, I learned that many don’t understand their rights. So I provided both the tenants and the landlords with their (respective) rights and responsibilities. It’s important that they both understand what each other has to know and do; many of them don’t.”

The workshop, presented in partnership with the SCC Basic Needs Center and Business & Career Education Division, supported community education and awareness surrounding the rental housing industry. (Photo courtesy of RSCCD Communications)

The March 25 seminar was based largely on inquiries submitted by students prior to the event. “We received some great questions from them,” Gates said, “and my colleague and fellow professor, Martha Cherry, researched a lot of these issues before the meeting.”

Gates noted that habitability was one of the most common concerns. “For example, if a landlord doesn’t address a cockroach infestation or things being broken in the apartment, what rights do tenants have?” she said. “What is classified as ‘urgent,’ versus something that can wait? Students wanted to know about the landlord’s obligation to fix the problem in a timely manner, and whether they’re obligated to pay rent, or if the landlord must relocate them until the problem is fixed.”

Other common issues addressed in Good Lease Vibes Only included rent control, rental-deposit requirements and pet ownership, among many others.

Tenant/landlord horror stories are not uncommon. “I had a veteran student who was facing eviction due to a mix-up with VA benefits that were put on hold,” Mejia said. “Even though it was clear the benefits were going to eventually be furnished, their landlord was evicting them.”

“I have a current student who I’ve referred to mediation because she’s renting a place that’s infested with mice,” Gates said. “And she’s not getting anywhere with the landlord.”

Mediation, she added, is currently a common point of discussion. “One of our guest speakers was a licensed mediator and arbitrator. He told me that the most common cases he’s currently hearing (across the full range of real estate topics) involve rental issues.”

Future Good Lease Vibes Only seminars will include input from experts in Gates’ network of real estate professionals, each one discussing his or her own specialty. “So we’ll have a different outlook every time,” Gates said. “Somebody who came to the seminar last March will get a different industry professional sharing their experience at the next one. That way, we’ll keep (these events) fresh and current.”

Along with future tenant/landlord seminars, SCC will provide an OC Home Ownership Fair on Aug. 22. “This will be presented for the entire community,” said Gates, who last winter received the President’s Award from Orange County Realtors. “And on Oct. 14, we’ll have a student-focused event about careers in real estate.”

Mejia emphasized that anything that’s good for SCC’s student population benefits the community as a whole. “I’m super grateful to Gates and SCC’s Real Estate Department, including her strong ties to the community,” he said. “They’re wonderful, and I’m incredibly thankful.”

Santiago Canyon College seminar tackles tenant-landlord issues Orange County Register

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Santiago Canyon College seminar tackles tenant-landlord issues

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