Outside Monitor Proposed To Resolve Class-Action Tenant Lawsuit Against Housing Authority

College Court housing complex, Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Under a pending settlement agreement, a “third-party expert” would develop and oversee the implementation of a plan to address the alleged poor conditions, including bedbugs, at the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee‘s (HACM) College Court complex.

The settlement would resolve a high-profile, class-action lawsuit filed in August with the backing of Common Ground Southeastern Wisconsin. It would also create a process intended to sustainably remove pests from the 251-unit, two-tower complex at 3334 W. Highland Blvd.

“I found two dead bedbugs in my ear,” said Carmella Holloway, one of five named plaintiffs, when the lawsuit was announced. “Earlier this year, I went to the emergency room because I scratched bedbug bites, causing blood to drip down my arms and legs. I haven’t gotten a decent night’s sleep in months. I never have company over anymore. How is this okay? Most of us are senior citizens and people with disabilities. Yet we pay our rent. Don’t evict us, evict the bedbugs.”

The “third-party expert” would provide “reasonable recommendations” regarding inspections, inspect the property for structural damage that could inhibit treatment, develop a treatment plan that covers multiple floors at a time and host quarterly education to residents on inspections and bedbugs. HACM would be required to develop a formal bedbug complaint process and report to the third party the number of complaints about bedbugs and their location. The housing authority would also need to report to residents, without including location data, the number of bedbug complaints.

After spending more than an hour in closed session to discuss the matter, the HACM board emerged to unanimously approve the deal without discussion Wednesday evening.

Prior to the HACM meeting, class counsel Michael Cerjak declined comment until all parties approve the agreement. In addition to the plaintiffs, the judge in the case, J.D. Watts, must also approve the agreement.

The named plaintiffs in the case are tenants Holloway, Stacy Ream, Sandra Eagle, Charlene Bell and Rickey Wright. In the lawsuit, they claim to have engaged in actions from sleeping with the lights on to storing all clothes in plastic bags in an effort to avoid bedbugs and other pests.

Cerjak, when it was announced in August, said he believes the lawsuit is a first-of-its-kind suit for a class to ask the agency for improvement, not a payout. “We worked really hard to fashion this case not seeking money or compensation, but just looking to solve the problem,” said the attorney. According to the settlement, class counsel attorney fees are to be covered by Barton Cerjak and the plaintiffs.

Common Ground organizer Kevin Solomon said tenants were fed up with a “whack-a-mole” approach that didn’t treat enough units when an outbreak occurred. Solomon said his coalition would consider other lawsuits against HACM targeting other properties if conditions did not improve.

But since the lawsuit was announced, the group has succeeded in its demand for new leadership at the agency and, two weeks ago, drew praise for its advocacy to identify financial issues within the agency. The agency’s federal overseer, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), has labeled HACM as “Troubled.” A compliance action is expected following the identification of $2.8 million in misallocated funds that previously prevented a 2022 audit from being completed.

On the class action lawsuit, HACM has been represented by attorney Brian W. Baird of Borgelt, Powell, Peterson & Frauen.

Bedbugs are parasitic insects that feed on blood, often at night. Skin irritation, including red areas and blisters, is the most common sign of their bite.

A list of several thousand work orders issued in the past five years, obtained by Common Ground via a records request, shows routine maintenance issues consistent with a large complex, but also more than 2,000 entries related to “pest control” and many explicit mentions of “roaches” and “bed bugs.”

College Court was constructed in 1968. Its apartments, one-bedroom units, are reserved for low-income individuals.

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