Image via Berrada Properties
Berrada Properties
About half the money Lena Taylor raised in her campaign for Milwaukee Municipal Court judge came from Youssef Berrada, the landlord targeted in a state Department of Justice lawsuit alleging numerous violations of state law related to Berrada properties and their management.
Taylor, a state senator, accepted $6,000 from Berrada, the legal maximum, according to her pre-election campaign finance report. Berrada, of Mequon, made the donation on March 11.
Taylor raised a total of $12,325 during the reporting period from Jan. 1 to March 20. The total includes three personal loans Taylor made to the campaign totaling $1,289, according to the report.
The state’s 2021 suit against Berrada and Berrada Properties Management Inc. accused them of several violations of the state’s landlord-tenant law, including fraudulent representation and improperly requiring tenants to pay certain costs. The state’s lawsuit, after some delay, is moving forward, Circuit Court record show.
Aggressive Evictions
The suit says Berrada owns more than 171 LLCs, “which combined own more than 8,000 apartment units in Wisconsin, most of which are in Milwaukee and Racine.” His firms are known for their aggressive eviction tactics.
The city backed away from a proposal to monitor Berrada properties after a lawyer representing him threatened to sue.
Taylor’s opponent in the race, Molly Gena, is managing attorney for Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Milwaukee office and has made holding predatory landlords accountable one of her campaign themes. Gena is married to Raphael Ramos, director of Legal Action’s Eviction Defense Project. Ramos been publicly critical of some Berrada entities’ business practices.
After Berrada, Taylor’s biggest donor was attorney Mark Thomsen, who contributed $1,000. Thomsen is representing Isaiah Taylor, Lena Taylor’s son, in a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Milwaukee.
Taylor listed a total of 33 donations and her three loans to the campaign.
Gena raised $29,714 from 263 donations during the reporting period. Her largest contribution was $1,537. Gena also loaned her campaign a total of $35,000 in five installments.
Gena filed a campaign finance report in January that covered the beginning of her campaign, which she declared Nov. 29. She reported receipts of $17,396. Taylor, who declared her candidacy on Jan. 3, did not file a January report as of March 29.
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