MILWAUKEE — Easter Milner used to live at a Berrada Property off 91st and Fond Du Lac, until it went up in flames displacing her and everyone else who lived there.
The fire happened on February 21, and started after Milner said she was running a space heater inside her apartment.
Now, Milner talked exclusively with TMJ4's Jenna Rae who investigates heat complaints city wide.
"What's it like being back knowing no one's living in here and it's boarded up, what's it like to see," Rae asked Milner standing outside the place she used to call home.
"It's disheartening because I wasn't the only one affected. It was everyone's lives. I feel terrible about the situation. I feel nothing but hurt and disappointment and let down mostly," Milner explained.
"By who," Rae asked.
"By my landlord," Milner responded.
On February 20, Milner spent the day with her mother. She said she got home early morning on the 21.
Watch: Tenant displaced by fire highlights Berrada Properties' heat issues
"When I came home, the heat was off. I would prefer to use my natural heat, but it was so cold that night," Milner said.
Milner said her heat wasn't working, and with outside temperatures in the single digits, she said using a space heater was her only option.
She said a few hours later, things took a turn for the worse.
"I woke up, like I said, to use the restroom. When I came back to my room, the mattress was on fire. Fire extinguisher had jammed, it didn't work. By then, the fire had moved so quickly and got out of control, I just got out of there," Milner explained.
Photos from that early morning blaze show smoke pouring out of the building.
Everyone living there was left homeless.
"You lost everything?" Rae asked Milner.
"Everything," she responded teary-eyed.
"Why is this so emotional for you to talk about?" Rae asked.
"Because it was everything, like it was everything that I had, and I mean the problem, it could've been prevented. Yes, I did use a space heater, but this is something that could have easily been prevented if, you know, it would've been taken care of right the first time," Milner said.
Since the start of 2025, Milner showed us at least five emails to her landlord, Berrada Properties, and its attorneys, about her heat not working.
"I've sent them numerous emails, as well as called them, left numerous messages, as well as talked to one of the representatives numerous times," Milner added.
For two years, Rae has reported on Berrada tenants enduring freezing conditions because their heat stopped working. So, we requested every single 'no heat' complaint, city-wide, over the past two years.
The Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) tracked nearly 1,400 complaints during that time.
Calls to Berrada topped the list.
Despite Berrada only owning six percent of all rental units in the city, it made up 36 percent of all 'no heat' complaints.
"My staff is kind of burnt out. The constant going out to no heat, no heat, understanding the fact that, you know, we're kinda also human in this and we want the heat for these people," Lorie Gallup said.
Gallup is a manager at DNS. She oversees supervisors and special enforcement inspectors, the people responding to heat outages.
Gallup wouldn't speak about Berrada Properties directly, but said an exorbitant amount of 'no heat' tickets taxes her staff.
"Can you talk about how properties with higher heat complaints and constant heat complaints take resources away from your inspectors?" Rae asked Gallup.
"I had to pull multiple staff in to handle multiple 'no heat' complaints. That exhausted a lot of our staff. It took away from our normal, every day kind of routine activities," Gallup explained.
It's routine activities for DNS that Gallup said should be routine activities for landlords to avoid complaints.
"It's maintenance. It's maintaining your systems. So, when we are taxing them with minus temperatures out there, they're going to operate when they need to. A little bit more eyes on the properties, you know, talk to your tenants," Gallup recommended.
We called and emailed Berrada Properties multiple times to ask them about the number of complaints, and for an interview, but never heard back.
Time and time again, Berrada tenants said they're left freezing with minimal communication, and in some cases, like Milner, homeless.
"I'm paying you for a service. I mean, I shouldn't have to go without because if it was flipped around, you wouldn't go without," Milner said.
From trash issues, heat complaints, and more, Jenna Rae investigates a lot of issues with landlords and was able to bring you this report because of a viewer tip.
You can email Jenna.Rae@tmj4.com if you're having issues with your landlord or if there's something you want her to look into.
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