SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A homeless woman who claims she was subjected to unlivable conditions while living at a Sacramento motel then evicted is suing the county.

In addition to the county, the lawsuit, filed Aug. 29 in Sacramento Superior Court, names other governmental entities including the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, the California Department of Housing and Community Development and the California Department of Social Services. It also names private entities including Shree Enterprises Inc., owner of the Greens motels, Step Up on Second Street, Sacramento Steps Forward and City of Refuge.

Tanika Williams and her family became homeless during the start of the COVID pandemic. The family spent three years in and out of motels, finding only short-term help from various nonprofits and government programs. In the spring of 2023, the family tried to apply for project-based Section 8 housing, but SHRA did not process the application because the youngest daughter did not have a Social Security number, the lawsuit alleges.

After being turned away from SHRA, the city informed the family they had an opening at the Greens Motel on Stockton Boulevard, one of the motels the city used as a shelter for homeless families. While there, the family endured poor conditions, the lawsuit alleges.

“Despite the strict adherence to the City Motel Program Protocol on their end, the Williams family repeatedly encountered abhorrent conditions at the Greens Hotel,” the lawsuit states. “Sewer water would seep up through their shower drain, black mold coated the base of their toilet, and exposed wires dangled out of their electrical wall sockets, threatening the safety of the Williams family and especially the children. They were also consistently subjected to bed bug and cockroach infestations, as well as a broken heater during the dead of winter that left them freezing.”

Williams filed complaints about the hotel with the city last October, but the city did not respond, the lawsuit alleges. She then received a notice stating the family had actually been out of the program for two months, and had to pay $4,000 or leave the motel.

She participated in a Feb. 14 press conference with other families at the hotel to raise concerns about the conditions. That day, the hotel locked the Williams family out of their unit and police escorted them off the property. The next day all their belongings were outside in bags.

Four months later, in June, the family was still homeless. And they remain homeless, the lawsuit states, as they travel to other parts of California in search of shelter. At times, the family of four have had to sleep on sidewalks. As they’ve been on the move, they’ve been unable to get medications to treat Williams’ husband’s chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and her three-year-old daughter’s sickle cell anemia. Both are higher risk for illnesses that can spread in crowded settings, meaning the family did not want to go to the city’s congregate shelters.

Sacramento county spokeswoman Janna Haynes declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said the county has never contracted with Step Up. California Department of Social Services spokesman Jason Montiel also declined comment.

Rachelle Ditmore, founder of City of Refuge, said the nonprofit was not heavily involved in the Williams’ experience with the city motel program as its contract with the city ended several days after the Williams got into the Greens motel.

The rest of the defendants did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The Greens Motel on Stockton Boulevard is no longer part of the city’s motel shelter program, city spokesman Tim Swanson said. The city does still contract with the Santa Monica-based Step Up to operate the rest of its homeless hotels. In June, the council extended that contract until Feb. 28. Step Up had been the only entity that responded to a request for proposals.

During the June meeting, Councilwoman Lisa Kaplan asked the city auditor to investigate the invoices received by Step Up for accuracy as part of its homelessness audit.

“My concerns regarding the services provided by Step Up continue to this date as the city looks to continue to improve the positive outcomes for the unsheltered community while also assessing and holding accountable all the providers of these service to their contract,” Kaplan said Tuesday.

Kaplan’s request followed a January lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta against Step Up on behalf of the state Department of Housing and Community Department. That suit alleges Step Up, along with Los Angeles developer Shangri-La, misspent millions in Project Homekey money it got from the state to turn motels into homeless permanent housing.

The new Sacramento lawsuit claims breach of contract, negligent maintenance of premises, retaliatory eviction, and an illegal tenant lockout.

The suit also alleges the tenants had to change rooms every two weeks so they could not be covered by the city’s eviction protection ordinance. Swanson said motel shelter guests do have to rotate rooms every two to four weeks, but the reason was for deep cleaning.

Since December 2020, 2,866 people have stayed in the city’s motel shelters, including 1,219 children, Swanson said. Of those, 635 have exited to positive destinations, including 476 that moved into permanent housing.

There are 858 families on the wait list for one of the city’s roughly 1,300 shelter beds, including the motel rooms, according to city data.

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