Common Ground & Tenants United “Evicting” CA-Based Corporate Landlord
Partner with City Attorney to Sue Highgrove Holdings LLC
After months of organizing, nearly 100 Common Ground (CG) and Tenants United (TU) leaders gathered Thursday morning to announce a major new campaign to “evict” David Tomblin of Highgrove Holdings Management LLC from Milwaukee. Joined by City Attorney Evan Goyke, leaders announced a historic, broad lawsuit asking a Circuit Court judge to appoint a third-party receiver to manage Tomblin’s properties if hundreds of documented nuisance conditions are not abated within 60 days—effectively stripping Tomblin of his portfolio. This is one of the largest public nuisance enforcement actions in Milwaukee’s history.
“For years, nobody in Milwaukee has known what to do about these out-of-state corporate landlords,” said Kiante Shields, TU member and leader. “They are big, hard to reach, and well-resourced. Fortunately, we know how to get things done and hold bullies accountable. We gave Tomblin a chance to do the right thing and he failed. Actions have consequences; we are the consequences. Slumlord Dave: It is time for you to go. We are evicting you from our city. This press conference serves as your formal notice.”
Four Highgrove tenants—Ebony Martin, Deshawn Harris, Samantha Gamble and Ishon Arnold (mom and son)—shared their experiences renting from Tomblin.
“Last August, my living room ceiling fell on my head,” recalled Ms. Martin. “I went to St. Joe’s Hospital with a concussion. My apartment flooded. I called Tomblin on August 12. He said I was not an immediate priority—someone would come later that week (the 14th or 15th). No one called. It took three months for him to patch my ceiling, and yet it still leaks because he didn’t repair the holes in the roof. This is my home! This has been devastating for me. My pain shouldn’t be his profit.”
Ms. Harris explained how she does laundry: “I haven’t had a washer or dryer for 6 years. So I run my bathtub and hand-wash my clothes (the laundromat is too expensive and far). But for 2 months, the bathtub knobs haven’t worked. I call weekly, but no one has come to fix it. I have to take 10-15 trips with a bucket from my kitchen to the tub to fill it. It’s ridiculous! It’s embarrassing! And that’s on top of the 6 months it took for Tomblin to fix my window; the water heater that regularly drips everywhere; and the giant hole under my porch. We as tenants deserve better.”
Ms. Gamble pointed to the large cut on her neck: “This is from surgery on March 9th. I had a stroke, caused by a blood clot. My doctor says it’s stress. Nothing gives me more stress than my house. I moved my family up from Chicago 15 years ago to escape violence. I found a different kind of violence here.”
Her son, Mr. Arnold, continued: “Our living room ceiling is buckling. My bedroom rains. Our bathroom has mold. My mom sleeps in our living room because the upstairs has a huge hole to the sky. We have to empty buckets of dirty, brown water constantly. We want to live safely and comfortably. Instead, we have holes in our heating vents, water pouring down light fixtures, broken doors, a boarded-up garage, and busted blinds. For 6 years, we’ve called and called. We were 7th on the list for a roof repair in 2020. Last month, Tomblin said we’re still 7th. This has taken a permanent toll on us emotionally, psychologically, and now for my mom, physically.”
“These are God’s children,” exclaimed Rev. Dr. Donna Childs from Tabernacle Community Baptist Church, a member of CG. “We are called to stand up and speak out against injustice when we see it. It is not enough to pray for change each Sunday; we are called to pray and act. It is time to stand up and support our brothers and sisters! The conduct and actions of Highgrove are immoral. David Tomblin is hurting and abusing our tenants, our neighborhoods, our city. He must be held accountable and compelled to act with integrity. At Common Ground we will stand eye to eye with injustice — unmoved, unshaken, unafraid.”
“No more overcharging us. No more intimidating us. No more neglecting us. No more talking down to us. No more dividing us. We as tenants are taking back our power!” says Harris. “You don’t get to evict us—we’re evicting you! We are … Tenants United!”
“Highgrove came to Milwaukee with a business model built on extraction. They promised to rehabilitate distressed properties while delivering returns to investors,” said City Attorney Evan Goyke. “What they actually delivered was neglect in the form of vacant buildings, mounting code violations, and unpaid tax bills. The public can no longer bear the burdens of Highgrove neglect and today we are holding them accountable. I thank Common Ground and Tenants United for your strong collaboration in this effort.”
For months, to support the lawsuit, over 65 trained CG and TU canvassers—including many Highgrove tenants—went door-to-door to all 263 Highgrove properties (425 units) to talk with tenants, build trust, document nuisance issues, and encourage tenants to call the city. This partnership is effective because CA Goyke can leverage city records (predominantly about exterior conditions), while CG and TU can leverage relationships to expose interior conditions.
“We thank City Attorney Goyke,” said Shields. “Last year, we approached him and his team about Highgrove. They were a ready and willing partner. We appreciate their hard work and collaboration. This is a historic partnership. Together, we are leveraging legal power, city government, and organized people power to take on a slumlord.”
Shields concluded: “To tenants from Highgrove and beyond: We have your back. Call us: 414-751-0755. We will not stop until justice is served. To other landlords—especially big, corporate landlords preying on tenants and our neighborhoods: Let this be a warning. Shape up, or we are coming for you. It is our intention to transform Milwaukee from ‘friendly to landlords,’ to ‘friendly to tenants and good landlords’. Accountability is the first step.
After the conference, the group walked around the block to see 6 other Highgrove properties—mostly boarded-up, with visible exterior conditions issues.
Background of Our Organizing & Correspondence with Tomblin
Throughout our 3-year campaign to reform public housing, CG received hundreds of calls from tenants in private housing across the city. We created Tenants United as a separate 501(c)3 to represent the interests of tenants—in both public and private housing—as a non-partisan political organization.
TU and CG have corresponded with David Tomblin over the past 8 months. After an initial wave of canvassing, Tomblin reached out to us to request a call. On our 38-minute Zoom call on August 27, 2025, we asked for—and confirmed—a face-to-face meeting in Milwaukee on October 29, 2025. In advance of the October meeting, we sent him 3 requests to evaluate whether he would work with us in good faith, and our list of attendees. Two hours before the meeting, he called to cancel—in part saying, “This meeting seemed to take a bit of a turn. I wasn’t expecting to have the Highgrove residents there — not that I’m afraid of them or anything like that, but I know they get very emotional.” We asked him to meet via Zoom instead. He declined. We asked him to reschedule. He declined, saying he would prefer written correspondence henceforth, copying in his attorneys.
Months later, Tomblin responded to our 3 requests. He failed each of them.
Key Facts about Tomblin and Highgrove
- Tomblin was the former President of the Los Angeles Rotary Club. From our research, it appears Tomblin recently sold his home in Torrance, California for over $2 million, and moved to Washington state. Although he may say he is a Milwaukee resident, he admitted at 15:40 of our call, “I’m back and forth – I’m not an official resident of Milwaukee.”
- Tomblin describes Highgrove as a “woman- and minority-owned business” (e.g., see 22:50 of call). In doing so, Highgrove was invited alongside minority businesses to bid on Fannie Mae auctions after the foreclosure crisis. Tomblin is a white man (photo below). See minute 34:35 of our Zoom when he says Highgrove had one female “top executive” years ago who is now in her 80s, declines to share her name, and changes the topic.
- Highgrove owns 263 properties with 425 units—99% of which are on the North Side. See this interactive map or the stagnant image below. Highgrove is the umbrella entity that manages about 10 distinct LLCs (e.g., RPRF II LLC, OPZ Fund I LLC, etc.).
- From our canvassing, approximately 40% of Tomblin’s properties are boarded-up. A recent US Bank lawsuit reported that 37% of those 86 properties in question were boarded up.
- On his archived website, Tomblin said he chose Milwaukee because it is “friendly to landlords” and he can assure “10-18% annual distributions” for his investors.
- Tomblin is backed by wealthy, private equity investors—mostly from California. He advertises to investors that his company invests in Opportunity Zones (OZs), a 2017 program created by Congress that provides tiered tax credits on capital gains reinvested back into properties (“substantially improving” them) within selected Opportunity Zones over a 10-year period. Thursday’s press conference is in front of 2 properties—and 1 block over from 6 others—in an Opportunity Zone. See Milwaukee’s OZs here.
- Tomblin has been sued by 35 of his investors for fraud. Some allege he is running a ponzi scheme. One investor, Nancy Kim, claims he owes her $519,000.
- US Bank is currently suing Tomblin, alleging he owes them over $8.55 million and that they haven’t received payment since January 2025. They are currently seeking a receiver for the 86 Highgrove properties they financed the mortgages for.
- Elite Builders LLC—owned by Anthony Arteaga of the Milwaukee Police Foundation—recently settled a lawsuit with Highgrove. The suit (here) asked Highgrove to pay back $2.4 million and foreclose and sell 29 properties as collateral. Although the settlement agreement is not public, records suggest Tomblin has sold approximately 19 of his properties.
- In September 2025, Tomblin owed $301,560 in delinquent taxes (#3 among residential landlords in Milwaukee). As of February 24, he owes $652,745.20 across 69 properties—34 of which are now delinquent for more than 3 years (the city limit). John Johnson at Marquette University Lubar Center (below) can speak to this—it requires aggregating taxes for each subsidiary LLC.
- Tomblin is the #1 landlord in Milwaukee for orders for lead abatement by the Milwaukee Health Department. For context, when a child tests positive for elevated lead levels at a hospital, the Health Department is notified and tests lead levels at schools, residential properties, etc. This means Tomblin’s properties are disproportionate sources of lead poisoning in Milwaukee.
- Tomblin is one of three “high volume” property owners for code enforcement violations by the Department of Neighborhood Services—alongside Berrada. (We have DNS emails confirming this.)
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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