President Pérez Introduces Files to Address Issues Surrounding Problem Landlords

Common Council President José G. Pérez has introduced a trio of communication files aimed at discussing in depth the tools with which the city is targeting problem landlords, whether those procedures are working, and what the city can do better to protect residents. This comes after the owner of a local real estate group (S2 Real Estate Group) was arrested and is federally charged with conspiracy, drug counts, maintaining a drug house, and money laundering. Although a number of the properties owned by S2 Real Estate Group are in the 12th Aldermanic District, given the scope of this alleged illegal operation, this a city-wide issue that needs to be addressed.

According to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the landlord’s “business model included renting his properties across the city directly to drug dealers, either to be used as ‘stash houses’ to store drugs or as ‘trap houses,’ to sell to buyers.” He would then use dealers to manage the property, including finding drug addicts to whom the rental units could be rented to.

The files introduced by President Pérez include:

– File #252242 – Communication from the Milwaukee Police Department and the Department of Neighborhood Services relating to the decline in the issuance of s. 80-10 Chronic Nuisance Premises letters.

– File #252243 – Communication from the Milwaukee Police Department relating to the collection, assessment, and reporting of Part II crime data (types of drug dealing and nuisance actions, for example).

– File #252111 – Communication from the Office of the City Attorney and the Department of Neighborhood Services relating to the corporate ownership of rental properties.

“It seems clear that the system we have for complaint-driven actions against properties isn’t working. We must find a way to be more aggressive on the front end so this burden is not solely on residents,” President Pérez said. “This new legal action shows that residents are being preyed upon and taken advantage of, and that is never okay. We need to have a thorough and open conversation about what is working, and not, and then take the necessary steps to improve these systems. I want to be perfectly clear, in short order, the City needs to align resources and systems to determine how one individual was able to orchestrate a city-wide drug network seemingly right under our noses. As a City are we maximizing all the tools at our disposal to deter such outcomes and if not, why not?”

It is anticipated that the files will be discussed at a future Steering and Rules Committee meeting in which President Pérez is the Chair.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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