San Francisco landlord’s property to be auctioned

Anne Kihagi, the San Francisco landlord who made headlines in 2017 when a court leveled a $2.4 million fine against her for a string of tenant abuses in over 50 rent-controlled units she owns across the city, will soon be one building poorer, as one of her properties in the Castro goes up for auction this month.

Mission Local found a notice from a Chico-based title and escrow company announcing that 3947 18th Street will go on the block October 17.

In fact, Mission Local says that three more Kihagi buildings could be sold shortly thereafter, depending on the outcome of an upcoming court hearing.

According to the Planning Department, 3947 is a six-unit building circa 1912, a “very clean Edwardian building that has been meticulously maintained” according to its most recent sale listing in 2013.

Kihagi bought the building in 2013 for more than $2.79 million as Xeland Prop 1 LLC (which the City Attorney lists as one of Kihagi’s alleged aliases and company names in past litigation).

The city recorded a notice of default on the property in June of this year, and posted a notice of trustee sale in September.

The 18th Street building is just part of a roughly $24 million San Francisco portfolio that Kihagi has amassed since 2013. It’s also one of the properties SF City Hall has been trying to collect rent on in lieu of Kihagi as a way of paying off the millions she still owes for tenant abuses

In 2015, the San Francisco City Attorney sued Kihagi for a suite of complaints that included entering renters’ homes without notice, threatening a tenant’s cat, putting renters under video surveillance, and threatening them if they cooperated with city inspectors.

In the past, Kihagi’s attorney has told Curbed SF she’s the victim of smear campaigns by disgruntled renters.

But in 2017, the judge in the city suit ruled against Kihagi, citing a “persistent pattern of bad faith harassment, retaliation, and fraud.”

Note that the auction notice cautions potential bidders that “you will be bidding on a lien, not the property itself” and that winning “does not necessarily entitle you to free and clear ownership.”

• Bank Forecloses On Kihagi Building [Mission Local]
• Landlord Faces Record Fine [Curbed SF]
• Kihagi Litigation [SF City Attorney]
• 3947 18th Street [Pac Union]
• City Hall Seizes Landlord’s Rents [Curbed SF]