Landlord pressured tenant to buy home
Rashaed had been ordered to repair, sell empire of rentals
It was presented to Destinie Grafton as a “blessing from God” but the offer from her notorious landlord, Elijah Mohammad Rashaed, instead brought tears, sleepless nights and fear of eviction.
In an interview in the hallway of the Milwaukee County Courthouse, followed by tearful testimony, Grafton, 32, described how Rashaed tried to pressure her into paying $75,000 to buy the house on N. 6th St. that she rents from a Rashaed entity.
“He said you really need to take advantage of this,” Grafton said in an interview. “He said I need to accept this blessing from God.”
Grafton, who recently worked at a grocery store but now depends largely on payments from Social Security for income, said Rashaed came to her house with the offer to purchase already filled out. He was accompanied by his Realtor, Mark Balistierri, she said.
The four-bedroom house was purchased by a Rashaed limited liability company for $15,000 in 2009, according to the deed filed with the Register of Deeds. That LLC, Fourth Property Development LLC, sold the house to a second Rashaed LLC — this one called Fifth Property Development LLC — for $9,000 in 2016.
The home was assessed at $43,900 last year. Grafton lives in the house with her children and parents.
In the interview and testimony, Grafton, who is pregnant, said she felt pressured and confused by the offer brought to her by Rashaed and Balistierri.
“There were words in there I would have never understood,” she testified. Grafton said that after receiving the documents she came to City Hall for help.
Grafton’s testimony came during a hearing on whether Rashaed had lived up to a promise to repair and sell his problem-plagued central city rental empire by January 2018.
When he failed to do so, the city asked the Circuit Court to effectively place his real estate empire into receivership.
In the weeks before the receivership hearing, Rashaed and Balistierri tried to sell properties to numerous tenants, the Realtor testified. He originally claimed that 20 people had signed or agreed to sign purchase offers, a number that dropped by one after Rashaed saw Grafton being interviewed outside the courtroom.
Grafton’s name is listed on the “Purchaser List for March 25, 2018” that was given to the court.
Balistierri said the homes were being sold for $35,000 to $85,000.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Glenn Yamahiro on Tuesday stripped Rashaed’s control of all of the 161 properties owned or linked to him as well as the revenue they produce.
The judge placed control in the hands of Peter Ogden, president of Ogden & Co. The order takes effect Friday. The properties contain nearly 360 rental units, records show.
Rashaed is the second major Milwaukee slumlord to lose control of his properties since 2016.
The Rashaed operation, which includes more than 50 LLCs, was profiled in 2016 as part of an ongoing Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation of landlords and slumlords.
Yamahiro praised Grafton for testifying during the hearing and said she was credible. The judge expressed amazement at what she said happened.
“The notion that she was strongarmed with a prewritten offer that was presented as a gift from God” defies comment, the judge said.
Rashaed and Balistierri disputed Grafton’s claims in an interview, saying it was Grafton who called the chance to buy a house a blessing or gift from God.
According to Grafton, Rashaed approached her with buying the house on the day a work crew unexpectedly showed up to replace her roof.
The roof repair was one of several done to Rashaed properties in the days leading up to the hearing before Yamahiro.
The shingles and debris from that repair are piled on the front lawn of the home she is renting.
Grafton said she has been renting the house for $1,200 a month since December. To buy the house, she would have to forfeit her $1,200 security deposit, pay her $1,200 April rent plus another $1,800 as a down payment, Grafton said.
Rashaed said “give me $1,800 by the first and this will be your home,” Grafton said.
Grafton said she was unsure how she would finance the rest of the purchase price. Balistierri said the offers gave the tenants up to 45 days to get financing.
Rashaed and Balistierri said in an interview that they would have arranged financing for Grafton and other tenants who wanted to buy their homes, though they did not say who exactly would make the loans.
They said there were companies and investors willing to make loans to highrisk home buyers.
Grafton said her confusion turned to panic when she thought that if she didn’t sign the purchase, she would be evicted — a claim Rashaed denied.
Her fear increased when she saw a for sale sign posted in front of her rental home.
“I felt pressure,” Grafton testified in a voice cracking from emotions. “If I didn’t sign or buy right away, somebody would buy it … and I would be removed.”