Photo via Milwaukee Autonomous Tenants Union
No one knew what was happening when their lives were upended a little less than a year ago, in March 2020. Some were given laptops and told they could work from home, and some were simply left in the lurch, left to their own devices to figure things out. One of the decisions that was made in Washington was to add a supplemental $600 to unemployment checks, partnered with a $1,200 stimulus check.
Another action in that stimulus package was to halt evictions, providing a moratorium for tenants who were unable to pay their rent. And yet, evictions continue at a record high in Milwaukee. One of the largest owners of real estate in Milwaukee, is S2, owned by Sam Stairm whose office will be picketed by a local group fighting to push for the moratorium to be maintained. There will be an event on Monday, February 1st at 2:45 PM, at 2900 W Lincoln Ave.
The protest is being organized by The Milwaukee Autonomous Tenants Union, an all-volunteer organization “fighting to end housing insecurity and the commodification of housing altogether,” according to its Facebook page. MATU is calling for a picket “against Milwaukee’s now largest evictor, S2 Realty.” According to MATU, throughout the ongoing eviction moratorium, S2 has evicted at a higher rate than any other local landlord. S2 currently has over 50 open eviction cases, conducted over 100 evictions in 2020, and has conducted over 600 evictions since 2010. Tenants have complained about harassment due to late rent, massive late and court fees, and poor unit maintenance and cleanliness upon move in.
The protest has been called to demand the following:• Stop all evictions by implementing a self-imposed moratorium.• Rent forgiveness for all tenants who are behind.• Maintain safe and clean units.• Stop retaliating against tenants for inability to pay.
“There have been misconceptions regarding the moratorium, and we are here to help tenants understand their rights,” says Robert Penner, who is spearheading the protest with MATU. There are some avenues, but not many for undocumented people to fight against eviction and invoke the federal moratorium, implemented through the CDC as part of the first phase of the CARES Act. However, it does not stop all evictions, as a resident would have to prove to the court that their loss of income was due to COVID. Ample proof must be provided for the moratorium to apply. “One of the main things to be emphasized that there are state, municipal and county codes that serve the tenant, The tenant is not subordinate to the landlord. It has to be an officer of the court that removes you from the property, not the landlord,” Penner says.
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Some resources may be available for tenants feeling the weight of COVID. There have been mutual aid food banks, run by folks in the community who aim to help in the realm of providing food and toiletries. This spirit of community illustrates the failures of government, which has neglected to provide for their citizens in the face of uncertainty and sometimes death. It has been a call to citizens to step forward and take care of each other. There are also government funded agencies and non-profit agencies who seek to alleviate some of the issues that plague the people.
One is America Works, funded by the government and located in downtown Milwaukee. Yussef Morales is one of the many public servants who works to assist people in these positions. “The biggest problem in Milwaukee is housing, even bigger than drugs. People are displaced at an obscene rate,” he says. America Works is an agency that works directly with people that have been affected by unemployment and homelessness. Emergency assistance is given to people who are facing eviction. “The check to keep people in their homes is given to the landlord, never to the actual tenants.
”In order for people to qualify for assistance with America Works, people have to have children, be unemployed and actively searching for work, and you have to be receiving government assistance. "I am starting to invoke the CDC moratorium more often on landlords,” says Morales. Although the paperwork can sometimes be hard to obtain, Moralea does not want people to be daunted. “We do a one time payment to the landlords in order to prevent evictions, right now that people are being put out.”
