Salt Lake City Council member Eva Lopez Chavez has been removed from the council for having failed to maintain a residence in her district, as required by Utah law and city ordinance, the city recorder’s office determined Tuesday.

Lopez Chavez, who was elected in 2023 to represent District 4, purchased a home in September 2025 in Council District 5, The Salt Lake Tribune reported last month.

Under the terms of her mortgage, she was required to reside in the home.

One of Lopez Chavez’s constituents wrote to the city attorney, requesting an investigation into whether she met the legal residency requirement. After a two-week investigation by the city attorney, City Recorder Keith Reynolds issued his formal opinion that she did not meet the requirement.

In a statement, Alex Ramos and Andrew Deesing, attorneys for Lopez Chavez, said, “We disagree with the findings of the Salt Lake City recorder’s office and their legal analysis.”

“We are reviewing all available remedies,” the attorneys said. “Councilwoman Lopez Chavez will abide by the decision until we determine next steps.”

Lopez Chavez said in a statement that she entered public service “to stand up for working families, immigrants, small business owners, tenants, seniors, and communities too often left behind.”

“That fight does not end with a title or a seat,” she said. “What was announced today did not come from the community I serve. To everyone who placed their trust in me, thank you. I will continue to fight for you.”

The City Council issued a statement that the council “respects the legal process that was followed in making the determination, and given the clear state code, the vacancy is effective immediately.”

The council said it plans to fill the vacant seat within 30 days.

When she was elected to the council, Lopez Chavez lived in an apartment on Douglas Street near the University of Utah, but moved out at the end of last year. She told the city attorney’s office, in response to the inquiry, that since moving out of the apartment last December, she did not have a fixed address.

She told the city attorney she had split time between her campaign manager’s house in District 4, the home she had purchased in District 5, her parents’ home outside her district, and other friends’ residences within the district.

During a Central City Neighborhood Council meeting last week, Lopez Chavez told attendees that she “actually just moved to” an apartment downtown and had “an investment property” in District 5.

“By admission through your counsel, you failed to maintain a principal place of residence within District 4 since at least December 6, 2025, when you moved out of the of the Douglas Street property,” Reynolds wrote in a letter to Lopez Chavez.

Reynolds declared the seat to have been vacant effective Dec. 6. It is unclear how that could impact any votes Lopez Chavez has taken during the six-month span.

Nicholas Rupp, the constituent who requested the investigation, thanked the city for its thorough work.

“While I’m feeling validated, I’m mostly sad and disappointed,” Rupp posted on social media. “Sad that my D4 neighbors and I haven’t had legal city representation for months, and I’m disappointed that our elected official didn’t know (or care about) the residency laws for the seat.”

Lopez Chavez had been under scrutiny since four people, three of them elected officials, reported that she had behaved in a sexually aggressive manner, pinning them against walls or in a car and, in three instances, making sexually suggestive statements toward them.

Last week, the City Council launched a formal investigation into the alleged misconduct and stripped Lopez Chavez of some of her duties as a council member pending the outcome of the inquiry.

In February, council Chair Alejandro Puy initiated a review of the City Council’s code of conduct, acknowledging, at the time, reports of alleged misconduct by Lopez Chavez.

The reports of misconduct came to light while Lopez Chavez, seen as a rising star in Democratic political circles, was running for Utah’s 1st Congressional District. She failed to garner enough delegate support at the party’s nominating convention and was eliminated from the race.