Angry evicted couple worried moving house sitting on the floor in the kitchen

Milwaukee Tenants in Legal Battle Evicted by Landlord

Briana Shipp, a 29-year-old mother, lost her home on North 41st Street when her notorious landlord, Elijah Mohammad Rashaed, evicted her. Shipp states all of her possessions were either thrown out by Rashaed or stolen.

The single mother argues that her August eviction is illegal.

Shipp, along with several other tenants, state that a series of events led to tenants not knowing who to pay their rent to last year. Numerous tenants ended up in eviction court and struggled to find a new place to rent due to the eviction being on their records.

Milwaukee landlords screen tenants and often ask if they’ve been evicted in the past 2 – 3 years.

Rashaed’s companies defaulted on mortgage loans in 2015, causing more than a dozen properties to go into a receivership. A year later, North Milwaukee Bank, the lender, was shut down by regulators. The closing of the bank caused further confusion among tenants, who were unsure of whom to pay their monthly rent.

A month later, Rashaed came to a new agreement with a lender, regaining control of the property.

Two tenants state that Rashaed’s companies attempted to collect rent during the receivership. One tenant paid both parties, while others failed to pay Rashaed or the receivership. After Rashead’s companies regained control of the properties, many tenants refused to pay rent because he provided no proof that he regained control of the properties.

Shipp’s eviction haunted the single mother for over two months despite the eviction being dismissed by a judge. The single mother of three spent three months living with relatives and moving from hotel to hotel because the dismissed eviction caused her to be ineligible to rent in the area.

Her son, Ja’khi Markel Shipp, an infant with severe medical issues, died in November, as his mother couldn’t find a suitable place to live.

Judge Ellen Brostrom agreed with tenants that they had no reasonable way to know who to pay rent to following the confusion. Brostrom did state in court that tenants needed to pay the back rent they owed.

Shipp is suing Second Property Development LLC, a company owned by Rashaed, for items thrown out of the house or stolen.