Tenants say county failing to act, enabling ‘renovictions’ at Arden Arcade complex
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Palms tenants accuse Sacramento County of lax enforcement fueling renovictions.
- Residents seek in-place rehabilitation and Berkeley-style relocation payments.
- County cites inspections and prosecutions; tenants say fines fail to compel repairs.
Tenants of the Palms Apartments in Arden Arcade say Sacramento County’s failure to hold landlords accountable is fueling the region’s housing crisis.
After months of requesting a meeting with Supervisor Rich Desmond, they gathered outside the county’s downtown Sacramento headquarters to demand stronger protections against so-called renovictions, as well as policies that preserve affordable multifamily housing.
There are jurisdictions in California that help tenants stave off homelessness, but Sacramento County isn’t one of them, said Corina Lovelace, 33, and other Palms tenants.
Only six families remain at the complex on the 2400 block of Marconi Avenue where they say a fire in January 2024 condemned one building and years of neglect have left a second one plagued by mold, pests and other dangerous habitability issues.
Lovelace said that the tenants’ corporate landlord, Plenty of Places Apartment Homes, is trying to push them out under the guise of repairs — a practice they call a “renoviction.”
“They want to kick us out and give us barely any money, $2,000, to move,” Lovelace said. “We ... deserve to live in the repairs and the renovations that are going to happen at the Palms.”
Desmond said that his staff has repeatedly offered to meet with tenants and that the offer remains open. Palms tenants acknowledged this but said they want to share their concerns directly with their elected supervisor.
Sacramento County officials defended their efforts in a statement, saying code enforcement officers and prosecutors have worked to force improvements at a complex that has a long history of violations, calls about crime and a devastating fire.
Palms tenants demand county stop displacement
That’s not how Lovelace and other tenants see the county’s actions, though. They accused county officials of paying lip service to solving homelessness while failing at one of the most effective prevention tools: Compelling landlords to keep up existing housing stock.
While Los Angeles County and other jurisdictions have banned renovictions, tenants said, Sacramento County has relied on small fines and case-by-case enforcement, saying landlords simply absorb as a cost of doing business.
“The county has known about the problems at the Palms for years, but the small fines they have levied have done nothing to compel necessary repairs,” said Johanna Heyer, an organizer with the Sacramento Valley Tenants Union.
Tenants say they want a substantive rehabilitation of the property, but that it should not come at the cost of their displacement. They propose renovating the fire-damaged building first and moving residents into those units while the other building is repaired.
If relocation is unavoidable, tenants said cities like Berkeley have adopted formulas to calculate temporary relocation payments that help cover the full cost of temporary housing during renovations.
Asked by The Bee whether they would commit to supporting tenant protections similar to those in Berkeley, Los Angeles and elsewhere, neither Desmond nor Sacramento County Executive David Villanueva said they would agree to do so.
Dan Wayne, who runs Plenty of Places Apartment Homes, did not respond to The Bee’s queries.
Sacramento County said it has worked to fix issues
County officials said that, after the property went through foreclosure about a year ago, the new owners began working with the county’s rental inspection program and code enforcement units “to get permits to renovate the burned complex and to fix necessary issues in the units that were still occupied.”
Desmond said he wants to ensure lawful Palms tenants receive all protections and assistance with alternative housing options and that the property owner rehabilitates the property “to increase housing capacity and make it a positive asset to the Arden Arcade community.”
“I have asked our county Department of Human Assistance staff to reach out to the tenants to help them navigate alternative housing option,” he said, noting that he and his team have regularly received updates from county staff on inspections and other communications with tenants.
Desmond said they have also met with nearby business owners who have been adversely affected by the poor condition of the property and increased criminal activity.
County officials said code enforcement cases remain open at the Palms, but inspectors “must be able to inspect these housing units, and tenants at the Palms Apartment have been unwilling to let our officers in to conduct inspections.”
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s community prosecution unit has been involved on and off for three years and continues to work with code enforcement “to ensure the property owner addresses nuisance issues, complies with the laws that all property owners are required to follow, and protects the rights of tenants to live in safe and lawful housing conditions,” county officials noted.
The county, in its statement, emphasized that while prosecutors safeguard tenants’ rights under housing laws, “the legitimacy of the eviction process is completely for the courts to decide.” Officials also noted that Sacramento faces a “drastic affordable housing shortage” and stressed the importance of rehabilitating viable units so they can return to use.
Tenants said that it appears Plenty of Places has the county’s blessing to press ahead with eviction plans once county building permits are finalized. Several said they were withholding rent payments because their landlord had not addressed hazardous living conditions.
Despite trauma, tenants say they won’t give up
Palms tenants have endured unsafe conditions and slapdash repairs for months, according to previous Bee reporting. Two tenants reported being hospitalized with respiratory conditions last winter.
They said the cash-for-keys offers won’t pay enough to cover their living expenses while they’re looking for new housing. Sacramento County should adopt a formula like the one used in Berkeley and elsewhere to determine the size of such payouts, they said.
Jacqueline Saffo, 72, said she and her husband, Cory,have been trying to find somewhere else to go. Everywhere they apply, she said, it’s $50 just to put an application.
“We’re on all the senior housing wait lists, but they tell us the wait is two to five years,” Saffo said.
She also hates to leave her little patch of Arden Arcade, she said, because her husband, who is legally blind, has memorized paths to nearby stores.
At their rally last week, Saffo, Lovelace and other Palms tenants vowed to fight to the end.
Saffo recalled the night she fled the fire, corralling her grandchildren and pets while helping her husband escape. That night upended their lives, she said, and although they were able to secure a different unit, things have only gotten worse.
Living conditions now, she added, are like “a bando” — slang for an abandoned house.
Lovelace, who is pregnant, said the county’s failure to intervene has created direct health risks. She said water drips from a leaking air-conditioning unit, making the wall beneath it constantly damp and moldy.
“It’s a hazardous place to live for anybody, but especially for someone who’s pregnant,” she said.
