Water leaking from light fixtures and pooling on the ground, maggots infesting an apartment, and now, families without heat.
For months, we've told you about issues at Berrada Property units across the city of Milwaukee.
"I hear a lot of the negative stuff coming against us. I just want to set the record straight," Archie Blunt said.
Blunt is Berrada Properties' new community outreach director. It's a voice we haven't heard from yet. He started at Berrada in June after nearly 15 years with the city's Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) enforcement branch.
"At the end of the day, the tenants are the ones who are suffering. I think this is an opportunity for us to turn the table. I'll be the first to say if we're doing something wrong. I'll be like 'yeah we messed up and we're gonna do better tomorrow'," Blunt explained.
TMJ4 has seen and heard the suffering people experience firsthand. However, Blunt said Berrada is working to fix that by taking a more proactive approach to their relationship with people who rent from them.
"We provide affordable housing to this population in Milwaukee, and our goal is to keep the rents affordable," Blunt said. "Educating the tenant base on resources that can help them live better lives."
Blunt said that means explaining things like landlord-tenant laws up front to folks before they sign leases, information about fire safety, insurance, and being a good neighbor.
It's a task that's topped with pre-existing challenges.
One of the biggest complaints from residents is Berrada doesn't answer calls when issues happen.
"I see that happening sometimes, and like I said, we have to do a better job on that, and I'll be honest with that," Blunt responded.
In some cases, people have told us they don't want to report problems at all.
"I called the neighborhood services on the landlord and the landlord tried to retaliate against me," one tenant said.
"What is your message to people who feel like they can't come to Berrada when they have an issue and they're scared of retaliation?" Jenna Rae asked.
"I would tell them to come anyway. It behooves us an organization and a property owner. It doesn't behoove us to retaliate on anybody. At the end of the day, some of the stuff people are talking about is maintenance. You can see a broken window, you can see a hole in the wall," Blunt described.
All things, Blunt said, they need to and will address as landlords.
"It's the children, it's the people, it's the people's aunts and uncles and grandmas in these buildings that everybody's turned a blind eye to. This narrative that we don't care about the people is the wrong narrative," he said. "We are invested in this city. I was born and raised here myself, however, Berrada Property has a huge real estate investment here," Blunt added.
The issues TMJ4 has reported on including the maggots, the flooded apartment, and families without heat, have all been resolved by Berrada Properties.
We're told if you're a tenant with issues, call and report it. Make sure you leave a message with your name, number and address so management can fix things.
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