Embattled Sacramento councilman recently evicted eight households, property manager says

Shortly after purchasing a Hagginwood apartment building last year, Sacramento Councilman Sean Loloee evicted the tenants of all eight units, according to the property manager.

“The owner wanted to rehabilitate the units,” Frank Thornton of Second Chance Property Management told The Sacramento Bee earlier this week. “They got cleared out.”

When asked about the evictions, Loloee, whose Viva Supermarket grocery stores were raided by federal agents last week, said “your information is incorrect.” He declined to answer further questions for this story.

An LLC called PAL 830 LLC purchased the two apartment complexes, at 800 and 830 Lampasas Ave., in August 2022. Loloee is the sole CEO of the LLC, according to documents filed with the California Secretary of State the same month.

Sometime in late 2022 or early 2023, the company delivered paperwork to the eight units informing tenants they needed to leave, Thornton said. The reason was not due to nonpayment of rent or lease violations, he said.

The council has been trying to decrease the number of evictions without so-called just cause in recent years, amid a worsening housing and homelessness crisis. In 2019 it passed a slew of new code sections intended to keep renters in their housing, called the Tenant Protection Program.

The code allows landlords to evict tenants for “substantial repairs,” but requires them to submit paperwork first, said Kelli Trapani, a city spokeswoman. The city did not receive that paperwork for the Lampasas Avenue apartments.

“Landlords are required to obtain a permit and file the termination of tenancy notice with (Tenant Protection Program),” Trapani said in an email. “(Tenant Protection Program) did not receive any documents from the property owner regarding substantial repairs or termination of tenancies. Renovation of units is not a just cause reason for eviction.”

Trapani added the city could not officially confirm Loloee’s LLC violated the city code because it has not spoken to the parties involved. The city is not investigating the evictions because there have been no filed complaints.

There was at least one tenant who may have been physically removed by sheriff’s deputies. The apartment leased by a person named Christe Davey was set to receive a sheriff lockout earlier this year, according to documents obtained by The Bee from a California Public Records Act request. Sheriff lockouts typically occur after the landlord files an unlawful detainer in Sacramento Superior Court, and a judge approves the removal of the tenant. Those types of court-approved evictions typically stay on a person’s record for years, making it nearly impossible to find new housing.

The city code also requires landlords who are evicting tenants for substantial renovations to obtain city permits for the construction work before starting the work.

No one has submitted construction permits to do substantial renovations on the units since Loloee’s LLC purchased them in August 2022, according to a city web page.

An online advertisement for the units was posted to Hotpads two months ago. The listing is still active and the monthly rent is $1,200, which is typical for a one-bedroom in the same neighborhood, according to Apartments.com.

One of the units was being inspected in order to accept a tenant with a Section 8 voucher, Thornton said Monday.

It’s unclear where the eight evicted households are living, as The Bee could not immediately locate them.

Evictions are the main way people lose their housing and become homeless, said Crystal Sanchez, president of the Sacramento Homeless Union.

“Landlords are evicting poor and low-income families to renovate and release at higher rents,” Sanchez said. “This is displacing people to the streets and adding to the homeless crisis.”

Sanchez explained further that even when evicted individuals don’t immediately end up on the street, the practice of renovating units and raising rent contributes to the region’s affordable housing shortage — which again exacerbates the homelessness crisis.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg spoke about the same issue during his State of the City speech earlier this year.

“For every homeless person we get into housing, three lose their housing,” Steinberg said at the time, citing Sacramento County data.

Landlords who are confirmed to violate the Tenant Protection Program code are subject to administrative penalties up to $25,000 per offense. The city has not issued penalties for the Lampasas Avenue evictions.

Loloee, who represents North Sacramento, is not running for re-election. His term ends in December 2024.