Owners of 3 San Francisco Chinatown SRO apartment buildings sued by the City for health and safety violations

(SAN FRANCISCO) San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced a lawsuit filed against the owners of three single room occupancy (SRO) apartment buildings in Chinatown for health and safety violations.

The defendants in the lawsuit are three male individuals who are owners and managers of the SRO buildings, Jeff Appendrodt, Shailendra Devdhara, Kamlesh Patel, as well as five associated limited liability companies (LLC), 1449 Powell Street LLC, 1500 Powell Street LLC, 912 Jackson Street LLC, Vallejo Powell SRO LLC , Jackson Street SRO LLC.

Three SRO buildings listed in the lawsuit are located at 1443-1449 Powell Street, 1500 Powell Street which is at the corner of Powell Street and Vallejo Street with another address of 790 Vallejo Street, and 912 Jackson Street in connection with the alleged violations of state and municipal codes.

Prior to May in 2023, two defendants, Appendrodt and Devdhara, were the owners and managers of all three SRO buildings on Powell and Jackson Streets. Patel has become the new owner and manager of two SRO buildings, 1500 Powell Street and 912 Jackson Street, since May 25 and May 30 this year respectively when he acquired the buildings from Appendrodt and Devdhara.

A sign for sale was seen outside the SRO building at 1443-1449 Powell Street when City Attorney Chiu, Director of Department of Building Inspection (DBI) Patrick O’Riordan, and dozens of the SRO tenants attended a press conference on October 10 in front of the building.

The lawsuit said DBI has issued many notices of violations to three building owners since April 2018. The violations included construction, plumbing, and electrical wiring work performed without permits; a lack of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors; malfunctioning kitchen burners, unclean kitchens and windows, malfunctioning windows, failure to employ a residential caretaker; malfunctioning electrical outlet or receptacle; mold and mildew in the bathroom; damaged walls, ceilings and flooring; unauthorized and illegal dwelling units and SRO rooms; and more.

On February 14, 2023, DBI conducted a task force inspection in conjunction with the Office of the City Attorney, Department of Planning, the Fire Department, and the Department of Public Health at the buildings.

According to the complaint of the lawsuit, the defendants are sued for state and local health and safety violations, and as a public nuisance that substantially endangers the health, welfare, and safety of the properties' occupants, tenants, and neighbors.

The lawsuit seeks relief for the tenants and the City departments that have spent years trying to get the landlords to abate dangerous conditions at the properties up to the present time with a new owner acquiring two buildings in May this year.

“It is unacceptable that dozens of immigrant tenants have had to live under these unsafe and unhealthy conditions,” said Chiu in the press conference. “Landlords have a responsibility to keep up their properties and ensure their tenants have a safe and healthy place to live. These property owners have not met that responsibility and instead profited off the suffering of their tenants. The owners need to be held accountable and make things right.”

“For years, we’ve tried to bring these properties into compliance and made only modest progress. Our warnings were ignored. Our violations were disregarded. That changes today,” said O’Riordan of DBI.

Malcolm Yeung, Executive Director of Chinatown Community Development Center, thanked for the courage of the tenants in speaking out against the unhealthy living conditions at the SRO units.

“The investors who bought these three buildings ignored years of tenant complaints and notices of code violations,” said Yeung. “This lawsuit seeks to end those delays. It also sends an important message that in every neighborhood of this city, low-income seniors and families are entitled to decent, safe, and sanitary conditions like everyone else."