MILWAUKEE — A TMJ4 investigation went door-to-door at rental properties where health department records show landlords refused to take action on lead paint contamination to find out how it affects renters and their families.
TMJ4’s Lighthouse team spoke with renter Danielle Jones and tracked down her former landlord, who, according to the health department, refused to let them remove the lead at no cost to him.
"When the city offers to do free things for you, you usually jump on those types of things. And to say no, you're going to do it yourself, yeah, what do they call those? Scum landlords?" Jones said.
Jones no longer lives in the home on Milwaukee's north side, but she'll always remember her time there. It's where health department inspections determined her children and sister were exposed to lead paint after they were found to have high blood-lead levels.
"My sister, she's the one who developed the highest, and it messed up her learning, like it really affected her," Jones said. "I didn't know anything about the lead until we took her to the hospital."
Watch: Poisoned by Paint: Milwaukee landlords cited and taken to court for neglecting to remove lead paint
Jones says her landlord never disclosed that the chipping paint on the living room walls, window sills, and front porch was contaminated with lead.
Those are just three of 35 places identified in the home by the health department.
"Once the city comes knocking on your door, there are some underlying problems, but he never disclosed that type of information," Jones said.
After years of failing to address the issue, according to citation reports, the city took her landlord, Christopher Knight, to court for four violations at Jones’ rental property and two at another Milwaukee rental home he owned. The health department says it got to the point where the city offered to cover all costs.
"He wouldn't let them come in. He's like, he's going to come, he's going to be here, he's going to do it himself with brand new windows. It never happened," Jones said.
Michael Mannan is the health department's lead hazard control supervisor.
"You would think that, 'hey, it's not costing anything, you're going to get $60,000 of free money if you just cooperate with us, but to be honest, that's not enough to move a lot of these landlords. They're just in it to make the money, the rent collection," Mannan said.
The health department can fine a property owner up to $450 before taking them to court, which the city says it did on multiple occasions.
"We had to take this landlord to court a couple of times, and by the time we got done with our second litigation, the landlord sold it at a sheriff's sale to a different company," Mannan said.
After weeks of not returning calls from TMJ4, Lighthouse showed up at Knight’s office in New Berlin.
"What you're referring to has been deeded back to the lender. I don't own them anymore," Knight said.
"But throughout your time there, kids were poisoned," Jordan said before Knight closed the door.
Health department records show Knight is one of 30 Milwaukee landlords who was ordered to appear in municipal court for lead paint issues in the past year and a half.
An open records request revealed Knight is among the most cited landlords in the city for lead paint issues in the past two years.
"In most of the cases, the landlord just doesn't even show up, and so the judge just says litigated non-compliant and then we start the process all over again," Mannan said.
The investigation found Knight, the owner of East Town Management LLC, was taken to court for not addressing six violations. Court records show he claimed bankruptcy last year and subsequently sold several properties, including Jones' former home. But city property assessment records show he still owns 10 rental homes.
"Me being a single parent, my mom being a single parent. You don't always have the options to just get up and go," Jones said.
Jones says she paid $850 a month to live in a contaminated home.
"I want to make this awareness to everybody, you just can't go with every landlord, you can't go with everybody. Even if it seems good, you check out the walls, you make sure the windows, you make sure everything is top tier, especially if you have children. You don't put their health at risk at all," Jones said.
A TMJ4 open records request through the Milwaukee Health Department revealed every landlord who was either cited or taken to court for neglecting to remove lead paint:
Name/Business — Violations since June 2024 — Location of business
- Dorothy Jones — 2 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Deja E. Vaughn — 2 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Residential Properties Resources OPZ Fund I LLC — 4 litigated non-compliance — Torrance, California
- East Town Management LLC — 6 litigated non-compliance — Elm Grove
- Bell-lare Rentals INC — 2 litigated non-compliance — Wauwatosa
- Rosa P Yang — 2 litigated compliance — Milwaukee
- Rachel Blackmon — 2 litigated compliance, 1 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Ayantade Property Management LLC — 4 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- HVL97-MKE-2017-01 Iceman LLC — 2 litigated non-compliance — Sanford, North Carolina
- Diane G Linsy — 2 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Catalina Spears — 1 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- James L Hasan — 2 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Murian Musa — 4 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Yer Lor — 2 litigated non-compliance — Menomonee Falls
- RPRFII A LLC - 3 litigated non-compliance, 2 citations issued — Milwaukee
- Donnie P Investments LLC — 2 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Sell Your Home Fast LLC — 1 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Novati Ngendakuliyo — 2 citations issued — Milwaukee
- A&L Hussein LLC — 2 litigated non-compliance, 1 citation issued — Milwaukee
- Home City 3944 LLC — 3 litigated non-compliance — Delafield
- Ryer Holdings LLC — 2 litigated non-compliance — Waukesha
- Terrance Reeves — 2 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Itzel A Lopez-Villanueva — 6 citations issued — Milwaukee
- Ger Vang — 1 litigated non-compliance — Germantown
- Ka Houa Xiong — 1 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Walnut Hill Development — 2 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Lamar L Royal — 2 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Janaan Dunn — 2 citations issued — Milwaukee
- Rebound Real Estate LLC — 1 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Muskego Ventures LLC— 2 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Armark Investments LLC — 2 citations issued — Kenosha
- Osman Sheikh — 2 citations issued — Milwaukee
- TKO Holdings LLC — 1 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Marquee III Propco LLC — 2 citations issued — Milwaukee
- KNC Realtor and Management LLC — 1 citation issued — Chamblee, Georgia
- Jason Sallis — 1 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
- Jimmie Williams — 1 litigated non-compliance — Milwaukee
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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