Milwaukee’s three-year battle didn’t stop Rashaed
Notorious landlord allegedly acting through children’s LLCs
Elijah Mohammed Rashaed, long known as one of Milwaukee’s most notorious landlords, is back in the business despite a three-year effort by the city to toss him out of it.
About a half-dozen tenants or their lawyers told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel they have recently talked to Rashaed about issues in their rental units even though the properties are owned by companies controlled by his children.
One tenant said she paid Rashaed $1,000, which he refunded after her Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee lawyer demanded the payback because the home she was going to rent had no heat.
“The specter of him still being involved in the
background is there,” said Nicole Penegor, a Legal Aid lawyer, who was astonished to learn Rashaed was again active in the central-city landlord business.
The specter grew larger last month when a limited liability company based in Rashaed’s West Palm Beach home last month purchased 18 central-city properties for nearly $1.7 million from LLCs owned by his children, according to deeds filed in Milwaukee County. The properties were in Rashaed’s portfolio when the city sued in hopes of forcing him out of the rental business.
Rashaed’s wife, Michelle Rashaed, is the owner-manager of the company, which is called 251 Bradley Place LLC, according to Florida Division of Corporations records filed last year. Elijah Mohammed Rashaed owned 251 Bradley Place in 2004 when he formed it, records show.
David Halbrooks, Rashaed’s lawyer, said the 18 properties were sold for tax purposes, and he no longer is an owner of 251 Bradley.
The sale is the latest action in a controversy that started in 2017, less than a year after the Journal Sentinel profiled Rashaed and several other landlords and slumlords. The stories described how some gamed the system to avoid making repairs and paying fines and taxes.
The city sued Rashaed, charging his real estate empire was a public nuisance that exploited the poor. The city charged that Rashaed targeted individuals who have trouble finding a place to live because of “income limitations, criminal or eviction records, or need to move quickly.”
The lawsuit said that in 2017 there were 269 orders pending against properties owned by an array of Rashaed companies. The city demanded the Rashaed operation fix 1,007 building code violations.
In 2018, Milwaukee Circuit Judge Glenn Yamahiro appointed Ogden & Co. to manage Rashaed’s rental portfolio, stripping him of control of the more than 160 properties and the revenue generated by them.
The city’s court action ended last April with a settlement that called on Rashaed to sell all the properties that remained in the portfolio within six months. The settlement stated Rashaed could sell properties to his adult children.
There are 70 properties, including the 18 that were sold to 251 Bradley Place LLC, that are owned by LLCs linked to Rashaed’s family, Halbrooks confirmed. The city is attempting to seize 40 of the properties because of back taxes of more the $300,000. The matter is in arbitration.
Halbrooks said Rashaed and his children have been trying to sell all the properties since the court case ended but have been unable to find buyers. “The pandemic has made selling investment properties nearly impossible,” Halbrooks said this month in a Milwaukee County Circuit Court filing.
“Nothing has changed and the intention is all of the properties are going to be sold out of the Rashaed realm,” Halbrooks said.
(Rashaed often goes by his middle name of Mohammed. The name is spelled “Mohammad” on many court records, including the city suit and state corporate records filed on his behalf. Halbrooks said Friday that Rashaed spells it Mohammed.)
‘Everyone in my office was surprised’
The quiet return of Rashaed astonished individuals who work with lowincome renters.
“Everyone in my office was surprised,” said Joseph Riepenhoff, a Legal Aid lawyer who said four cases involving Rashaed have crossed his desk in recent weeks.
The settlement did not ban Rashaed from working in the rental business in Milwaukee or from buying properties. “He could buy every single property in the city of Milwaukee if he wanted to,” Halbrooks said.
City officials thought they were through with Rashaed because during the contentious court fight he testified that he wanted out of the rental business in Milwaukee.
“The understanding was that he was getting out of the business in Milwaukee,” said Heather Hough, an assistant city attorney who negotiated the settlement. Hearing that Rashaed is back in the business is “very, very concerning,” she said.
Riepenhoff, of Legal Aid, said Rashaed has not appeared to have changed his way of doing business.
“He’s even using the same properties and the same management practices to exploit tenants” that sparked the city lawsuit, Riepenhoff said.
One Milwaukee woman said her dealings with Rashaed resulted in her nearly moving into a home that had no heat. The 27-year-old woman asked not be named out of fear that publicly complaining about a landlord could make it difficult for her to find a place to live.
She said she contacted Rashaed and he provided her with a list of available rentals. She chose a home on Juneau Avenue.
When she was preparing to move into the home last month she noticed it was cold and realized the furnace wasn’t working.
“I contacted Rashaed and I told him I need my furnace,” the woman said, adding Rashaed told her he would not replace it. “He said we’re going to come out to fix it.”
Brendan Conway, spokesman for WEC Energy Group, said the company turned off the gas at the home on Jan. 15 when it discovered the furnace and the portion of the gas line that the customer is responsible for maintaining needed repairs.
“They did not feel safe leaving it (the gas) on,” Conway said.
The woman said she demanded that Rashaed pay back the $1,000 she had paid to secure the home, but he refused to return the cash.
“It took two or three heated conversations with him” before Rashaed agreed to refund the money, Riepenhoff said.
Tawana Bellinger said there also was no doubt in her mind that Rashaed was involved in managing the home on North 17th Street that she rented from him about six years ago. When Rashaed lost control of his properties, Bellinger said she dealt with Ogden, the property manager. When the city settled with Rashead last year, she dealt with Rashaed’s daughter, Mariama Guy, who controlled a company that owned the property.
But, Bellinger said, when she fell several months behind on her rent during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rashaed reemerged as the collector.
“He said give me $1,000 or you could give me my keys and move out,” Bellinger said, noting he also texted her repeatedly.
“No one is stopping you from moving use the money that you haven’t paid lol,” Rashead said in one text that Bellinger showed the Journal Sentinel. “Please move & get you a perfect landlord.”
A company linked to Rashaed’s daughter sued to evict Bellinger, although the case was dismissed this month on a technicality. The eviction suit was filed despite a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ban on many evictions that runs until March 31.
Contacted by phone, Rashead hung up on a reporter, telling him that “you’re not going to write anything good about me — talk to my attorney.”
Halbrooks, Rashaed’s lawyer, questioned whether Rashaed was involved in his children’s rental businesses.
“The point is Mr. Rashaed is not in Milwaukee and has not been in Milwaukee and is not actively involved in managing properties ... as far as I know,” Halbrooks said. “I hear all the time from tenants that they’ve talked to Mohammed or he has been doing this or that. I take it all with a grain of salt.”
Contact Cary Spivak at (414) 5500070 or cspivak@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cspivak or Facebook at facebook.com/cary.spivak.
“The point is Mr. Rashaed is not in Milwaukee and has not been in Milwaukee and is not actively involved in managing properties ... as far as I know. I hear all the time from tenants that they’ve talked to Mohammed or he has been doing this or that. I take it all with a grain of salt.” David Halbrooks Elijah Mohammed Rashaed’s lawyer