MILWAUKEE — Residents at two Berrada properties were issued notices Thursday by Milwaukee’s Department of Neighborhood Services, saying the property managers had until Friday afternoon to fix water and heating issues.
"If Berrada doesn't fix the problem and we have to find somewhere to go," said Maria Irby, a Berrada tenant.
The two properties were apartment buildings on Silver Spring and Teutonia, and 24th and Capitol.
According to DNS, residents at the Teutonia property were without water service for days, while residents on Capitol had no heat, which caused internal pipe issues.
There was also an issue with the curb stop, which Milwaukee Water Works began repairing Friday.
"A pipe busted through the wall, busted through the wall. The lady’s water, her lights were flickering on and off, water was pouring through the kids' bedroom," Irby said. "We can't get in contact with Berrada, so we had to call the fire department. They came out and shut the water down."
On Friday, a Berrada representative appealed the emergency order to try to avoid forcing people from their homes.
Watch: Issues with heat, water push DNS to issue two emergency orders on Berrada
After a half-hour closed-door meeting, DNS extended the deadline to get things fixed, allowing residents to stay in their homes.
A spokesperson for DNS told TMJ4 that Berrada restored water to all but one tenant on Teutonia and that heat had been turned back on at Capitol.
The city gave Berrada until Monday to restore service to the last tenant. If that water is not restored, Berrada will have to provide alternative living accommodations to that resident.
The Berrada spokesperson did not answer questions when asked by TMJ4 reporter Brendyn Jones after the meeting. He instead directed Jones to the city for comment on the appeal and provided Jones with a Berrada phone number to call. The representative did not answer the phone when called.
Irby said that's typical.
"There's no communication as long as they're receiving their rent," Irby said. "That's all they really care about. I don’t know, pretty much trying to figure out the next thing to do is what we gotta do."
DNS plans to follow up with Berrada on Monday to see if the conditions of the appeal were met.
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