Parents of 44 children kicked out of Sacramento’s motel shelters sue city, nonprofit

A group of homeless parents have sued the City of Sacramento alleging a change to a city motel shelter program last month caused a mass eviction of their families, including 44 children.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court by the Sacramento Homeless Union, alleges that on June 1, using new authorization under a redesigned city program, motel staff told families they had to vacate the room temporarily for cleaning, then locked them out, placing all their belongings outside. The 44 children, ages four months to 17 years, are in 18 households. All but two are in households with single mothers. Many of the children have special needs, including autism and other disabilities.

The suit asks a judge to order the city and its contractors to place the plaintiffs, many of whom are now living in vehicles, back into the city-funded motel rooms. Without the air conditioning, security and electricity of the motel rooms, the plaintiffs are in danger, the suit alleges. Since being evicted from the motel program, the suit says, one mother’s sons were held at gunpoint, a 78-year-old veteran has been unable to charge his breathing machine, and another mother collapsed of heat exhaustion, dropped her four-month-old baby, and was robbed as she lay unconscious.

In addition to the city, the suit names Brian Pedro, director of the city’s Department of Community Response, the nonprofit Step up on Second Street, which provides case management at the motels, and the owners of four Sacramento motels as defendants. It alleges violations of California tenant protection laws, as well as federal violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Violence Against Women Act, and violations of the Fourth and Fifth amendments of the Constitution regarding seizure of property.

City spokesperson Jennifer Singer declined comment on the lawsuit, stating the city is unable comment on pending litigation.

City spokesperson Julie Hall said last month the city made the changes to the program in part to free up case workers’ time to help the guests find housing, hopefully leading to guests moving into housing sooner, without getting stuck in the motel shelters for over a year.

“As a private business, motels have the option to accept a voucher or not. Like other voucher programs, there is no mandate that all vouchers must be accepted,” Hall said in an email to the Bee in June.

Mike Patel, owner and manager of the Motel 6 motels on Jibboom Street and College Town Drive, said the only people his two motels removed were those with multiple documented rule violations.

“There’s two sides to every story, that’s for sure,” Patel said Friday after reading the suit. “I think not all the facts are there, which should come out if this moves forward. It’s things like this that make it difficult to do good.”

Step Up CEO Tod Lipka did not respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.

Tenant protections for homeless

In addition to the suit’s allegation that motel staff violated the families civil rights by kicking them out of the motels, the suit alleges that when homeless people stay in shelters over 30 days, unable to find affordable housing, certain state and city tenant protections can kick in.

Hearing about families losing their shelter the weekend of June 1, seven single mothers decided to stay put at their motel rooms at Arden Acres. All seven families, who are plaintiffs in the suit, had lived in the motel at least 30 days, while one had been there over a year.

That motel, where families live in detached cottages, is no longer part of the city motel program. The owner served the families eviction notices March 28.

The notices were three-day notices, not the required 30-day notices under state law, the suit alleged.

The suit asks for a judge to order the city and its contractors to stop its eviction of the families in Arden Acres.

Concerns about homeless nonprofit

The lawsuit also names Step up on Second, alleging that after the state in January 2024 sued Santa Monica-based Step up on Second, the city should have stopped hiring the large homeless nonprofit to provide case management for participants in the city motel program.

The case, which Step Up settled for $3 million, alleged that the nonprofit and Southern California developer Shangri-La had misused state money intended to build affordable housing.

The city started hiring Step Up for the motel program in 2023 because it was the only entity that applied, city officials have said.

The Sacramento Homeless Union, a local of the California Homeless Union, represents 4,600 homeless, formerly homeless and marginally-housed people in the Sacramento area, the suit said.

In addition to the injunctions, the suit also demands compensatory and consequential damages to all 31 plaintiffs for the alleged violations of federal and state laws.

How the change happened

For the budget year that started July 1, the city was facing a deficit. In order to save $3.2 million, staff decided to change the motel shelter program.

Among the changes to the program, which comprises about 200 rooms, some guests now have to pay for a portion of their room, and there is a maximum stay of six months. The most significant change, however, is that motel staff now decide who gets a room and who gets kicked out.

After the June 1 evictions, several mothers told The Bee they were either given no reason for why they were evicted, or they were told it was because of minor rule violations, resulting in being placed on a “do not rent” list.

“The city and the mayor of Sacramento just announced they balanced a $1.7 billion budget, but they did so on the backs of the unhoused,” said Anthony Prince, the attorney who filed the suit. “The homeless are through being pushed around, are being exploited, profited off of, and disregarded. They’re not going to be disregarded this time.”