YOUNGSTOWN — A California-based lender has purchased a former Austintown hotel known as California Palms Addiction Recovery Campus at a sheriff’s sale for $4 million.

Pender Capital notified Mahoning County Common Pleas Court of the July 21 sale in a recent court filing and stated that it would be filing a motion of “confirmation of sale” in a common pleas court case before Judge John Durkin.

California Palms’ owner, attorney Sebastian Rucci, sued Pender Capital in 2018, in a dispute over the terms of the $4 million loan Pender made to California Palms. The court has been the venue for ongoing disputes between Pender and California Palms for more than two years. The case also was appealed to the 7th District Court of Appeals.

The facility is on Clarkins Drive, off state Route 46 at the Interstate 80 interchange.

The $4 million was the highest and best bid and exceeded the appraised value, Pender stated in the filing.

Following negotiations in common pleas court, California Palms had a Dec. 4, 2019, deadline to relocate substance-abuse clients from the facility, but Rucci continued to seek refinancing of the facility’s debt to Pender and vowed to keep the facility open.

In November, California Palms had about 20 patients staying there, Rucci said.

In June, Rucci and his attorney, James Vitullo, filed a motion with the appeals court asking for a stay of Pender’s foreclosure action against the rehab facility.

Rucci said in an email Tuesday that the sheriff’s sale “does not conclude” his dispute with Pender. “We are going to oppose confirmation and moving today to vacate the sheriff’s sale,” he said.

The basis for opposing the confirmation is an unresolved lien, he said.

“I am confident that we will be in possession of the property until these issues are resolved,” Rucci stated, adding that he believes the case will remain unsolved while it is handled by the appeals court.

He said California Palms remains in business and is accepting clients.

The COVID-19 pandemic has “increased the need for addiction recovery” and “exacerbated the problem for people recovering from addiction,” he said.

A document included with Pender’s filing states that the four-story California Palms building is 65,487 square feet and provides inpatient residential treatment for drug addiction. It consists of 102 units and 138 beds with a maximum occupancy of 200 people. It also has a restaurant, outdoor sports area, entertainment area, Jacuzzi pool, fitness room, billiards, volleyball court and 800-square-foot conference room.