Activists criticize eviction of midtown Sacramento renters in the middle of a pandemic
About a dozen midtown Sacramento renters are being evicted and a prominent tenants rights group is urging the landlord to allow residents to stay at least until the coronavirus pandemic eases.
University Art Center Inc. and Nielsen Property Management sent eviction notices to tenants on July 27, informing them they needed to be out by the end of November, in anticipation of demolition.
“Pursuant to the City of Sacramento Tenant Protection and Relief Act ... we are required to give you at least 120 days notice of the intent to withdraw the property from the rental marketplace,” the letter read. “Accordingly, please be advised that your lease will be terminated, and you are required to vacate the property, on November 30, 2020.”
University Art also sent a notice to the city, as required by the city’s rent control ordinance, said Tina Lee-Vogt, who oversees the tenant protection program. The property on 26th Street is covered by the ordinance because it is a multi-unit home built prior to 1995.
When Veronica LuVisi received the notice in July, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Coronavirus cases were surging, she had just gone through a breakup and the salary at her job at a dental software company had been cut by 25%, she said.
“It was really awful,” said LuVisi, 25. “The cherry on top of a terrible 2020.”
She started looking at listings for other apartments, but the only midtown studio apartments she could find were at least $1,100 per month – more than the $995 she currently pays. She’d also have to come up with a security deposit and first month’s rent, which would essentially deplete her savings, she said.
Bobby Castagna, 39, had a similar experience.
“It’s basically impossible to find (an apartment) right now,” said Castagna, who’s lived in the apartment for about four years. “There is nothing in our price range.”
Although rent is down in the Bay Area amid the coronavirus, the average rent in the Sacramento region has increased and was about 3.4% higher this summer than last summer.
The tenants, working with the Sacramento Tenants Union, sent a letter to University Art on Tuesday asking the landlord to allow them to stay in their apartments and repair the aging building instead of demolishing it.
University Art plans to review the letter and discuss it with the tenants, said Cornelia Pendleton, a representative for University Art.
The city’s tenant protection ordinance went into effect more than a year ago, but this is the first time Lee-Vogt has heard of a landlord planning to demolish apartments that were covered, she said.
The city has not yet received a request for the property’s demolition, said Kelli Trapani, a city spokeswoman. If the property is deemed to be historic, it will require additional approvals.
University Art has no current plans to build anything at the site after demolishing the property, Pendleton said.
The state’s rent control law requires landlords to provide the amount of one month’s rent to tenants who are being evicted in this situation, to be used as rental assistance to help them move, said Michelle Pariset of Public Advocates law firm.
The notice did not mention rental assistance and the tenants have not yet received it, Castagna said.
Pendleton declined to comment on whether rental assistance would be provided.
The city should strengthen its rent control ordinance to require landlords to pay a higher amount of rental assistance in these situations, Pariset said. That’s one thing that a rent control ballot measure called Measure C would have done, but it was rejected by voters this month.
“There are holes in this ordinance that we need to fix and this is one of them,” Pariset said. “All those folks are going to get evicted right before the holidays in a pandemic.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 4:54 PM.
