Dozens of renters could soon be evicted from River District hotel amid coronavirus pandemic
Amid a severe surge in coronavirus cases and with Sacramento nighttime temperatures dipping into the 30s, dozens of tenants could soon be evicted from a River District residential hotel.
The Calabasas-based Ezralow Co. sent notices to at least 38 tenants of the Hawthorn Suites on Nov. 16, saying they needed to leave so the hotel could be renovated or sold. For the 14 tenants who had been staying there more than a year, the notices ordered them to move out by Jan. 15, offering a month of waived rent. For the 24 tenants who have been there less than a year, the notices offered no financial assistance, and said they needed to leave by Dec. 15.
The notices were also addressed to any unknown occupants of the 19 rooms. As of Friday, tenant activists estimate there are at least 50 people living in the hotel, according to Ben Hadley of the Sacramento Eviction Defense Network, an organization helping the tenants.
Activists sent the notices to the city, prompting the City Attorney’s Office to send a letter to Ezralow on Nov. 24. The letter said the company was in violation of the city’s “tenant protection act.” Before the company could evict tenants in seven rooms who have been staying at the hotel for over a year, the company must give a 120-day notice, the letter said.
Sid Rosenberg, an attorney for Ezralow Co., responded Dec. 15 arguing that the ordinance does not apply to the hotel. The ordinance exempts: “A rental unit in a hotel, motel, inn, tourist home, or rooming and boarding house which is rented primarily to transient guests for a period of less than 30 days.” The company says because the majority of the 321 rooms are not filled by people who have been there a year, the whole property is exempt from the ordinance. The city says the ordinance still applies to the renters at the hotel who have been there a year.
The evictions are allowed under the state’s coronavirus moratorium, Rosenberg’s letter said. The city attorney’s letter argued that the notices lacked a “COVID-19 declaration,” so they need to be reissued in order to comply with the state moratorium law. That law prohibits evictions that meet certain criteria until at least Feb. 1.
Rosenberg said the matter appears to be heading to court.
“Contrary to the assertions of the deputy city attorney, we remain adamant that the property owner has fully complied with all legal obligations owing to each of the occupants of the subject properties,” Rosenberg said in an email to The Sacramento Bee.
Regardless of the legal specifics, Mayor Darrell Steinberg is urging the company to let all the tenants stay put, at least for now.
“We will do all we can to assist the tenants and their lawyers to prevent more than 50 of our most vulnerable neighbors from being turned out into the cold in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Steinberg said Saturday. “Beyond the legal particulars, I would call on the property’s owner to display a conscience in this difficult time.”
The Eviction Defense Network sent an open letter to City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood and the City Council on Friday, signed by 23 hotel tenants and 14 organizations. It said that the state coronavirus eviction moratorium should apply to the majority of the roughly 50 tenants and asked the city demand the landlord rescind the notices.
“We, the undersigned tenants, elected officials, community-based advocacy organizations, and individuals call upon the city to take immediate action to halt the unjust evictions of all tenants at Hawthorn Suites and to ensure that all of these tenants’ rights are fully protected,” the letter reads.
‘I can’t sleep, I can’t eat’
While the legal battle plays out, tenants are worried about becoming homeless during the coldest time of the year, with all homeless shelters in the city typically full on any given night.
Sofia Garcia has been living in the hotel, where she pays about $65 a day, for nearly a year. She was attracted to the place because it didn’t require a security deposit and rental history check — items traditional apartment landlords require.
In September, officials announced plans to convert the hotel into homeless housing through the state’s Project Homekey program. A relocation consultant came to the hotel and took tenants’ personal information to help find them apartments, Garcia said.
“We were thinking, this is it, we’re all going to get relocated,” said Garcia, 47. “I even started packing.”
But shortly after, the deal fell through, over an appraisal price issue. A few days later, the tenants got the notices telling them they had to leave.
“To be honest, I just came to my room, sat down and cried,” Garcia said.
Garcia had been homeless before, and was hoping she would never need to return to the streets. But if she has to leave the hotel, she will likely need to sleep in her truck, she said.
The thought keeps her up at night.
“Lately I’ve been very triggered to the point where I can’t sleep, I can’t eat,” Garcia said. “I’m sitting here biting my nails and thinking what to do.”
Some of the tenants are elderly, disabled, and some have children, Hadley said. Many, like Garcia, are people of color, who have been at a higher risk of eviction during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ezralow Co. filed an application with the city over the summer to redevelop the hotel into an 281-unit apartment complex. Rosenberg did not respond to a question asking when construction would start.
This story was originally published December 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
