ST. LOUIS — The City of St. Louis filed a lawsuit this week against landlords and property owners for engaging in what they call "a predatory business model" in south St. Louis.
The lawsuit states this originates from the defendants’ operation of more than 40 illegal rooming houses in neighborhoods like Gravois Park, Benton Park West and Carondelet.
The lawsuit accused Dara Daugherty, Keith Mack, Dack Daugherty, Daniel McAfee aka Daniel Daugherty, Steven Heinrichs, Joseph Witthaus, AAA Sunshine Investments LLC, Gator Investment Properties, K&D Home Repair LLC, 2837 Jefferson Ave LLC, 2726 Texas LLC, 4722 Minnesota LLC, FB Investments LLC, Dass Investments LLC, Scott Property LLC and Anthony Property Management LLC.
The lawsuit accused the defendants of targeting people.
"Many of whom are struggling with severe mental illness and/or drug addiction by charging them hundreds of dollars per month to rent shared space in unlicensed properties riddled with health and safety code violations," the lawsuit read.
According to the lawsuit, defendant Dara Daugherty is a landlord with 38 active warrants for her arrest as of Sept. 28, 2023, with 32 on building code violations and illegally evicting tenants.
It said she told a police officer that her arrest was worth it because she makes approximately $40,000 per month collecting rent from tenants and does not spend any money maintaining properties.
Defendants charged individuals from $500 and $1,000 to rent space, primarily in cash, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit read no background checks were made and Daugherty solicited clients from homeless shelters and food banks.
"Consequently, her tenants are housed and forced to share common areas, including bathrooms and kitchens, with individuals with criminal histories, serious mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders," it read.
These are some of the living conditions described in the lawsuit:
- The city received an inordinate number of police calls for service for a variety of complaints at the properties, including domestic disturbances, shots fired, overdoses, prostitution, altercations, threats of violence, physical assaults, larceny, peace disturbances, destruction of property, assaults and incidents involving weapons.
- Multiple violent assaults, including stabbings, shootings, carjackings, fights and kidnapping have occurred at the properties.
- Many of the properties lack or have defective running water, heating and electricity.
- Most, if not all, of the properties lack working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
- Many of the properties have infestations of bed bugs, rodents and other pests.
5 On Your Side reached out to Daugherty but has not heard back from her as of Wednesday evening.
Alderman Shane Cohn provided this statement because a few of the properties reside in his ward, "I think it’s an important step for the city to hold blatantly predatory landlords and property owners to account for their actions. I applaud the efforts of the administration and city counselor's office to move this forward."
The mayor's spokesperson Nick Dunne said the city has taken on more of an approach to tackle problem properties.
Dunne explained their Affirmative Litigation Unit connected the dots in this specific case after noticing trends.
Dunne said, "We started to evaluate the more egregious nuisance properties. We connected many of the properties through the city to a small group of people who are purchasing these properties, not maintaining them and renting them out while still condemned."
Dunne called the situation an egregious attempt at making money.
He said he believes some people are still living in some of these properties.
Dunne told 5 On Your Side they are willing to work with landlords, but will take action as well, saying, "We will come after you."
SLU law professor Anders Walker scoured through the 57-page suit.
Walker said, "This is an interesting claim. The argument is the owners of the properties bought them for pennies on the dollar, have not maintained them, they've been condemned and they are renting them out to poor people who are stuck in basements and houses with no electricity or heat and it's basically exploitation."
Walker said he believes this might be the tip of the iceberg.
"This could be the beginning of a whole new chapter in St. Louis. The city is riddled with vacant properties that are crumbling and finally, we might see some enforcement to get them fixed up," Walker said.
Dunne told 5 On Your Side the city hopes this lawsuit can keep neighborhoods safe and recoup costs and resources.
Dunne encouraged residents to continue reporting problem properties to the Citizens Service Bureau at 314-622-4800.
He said, "It’s going to be your best for running a list of records."
Right now, the city is trying to get a full account of who has been impacted.
Dunne encouraged anyone affected to contact the Civil Rights Enforcement Agency at 314-622-3301.
Places for People CEO, Laura McCallister, shared this statement:
"While we can't weigh in on this lawsuit, as an organization that serves people with serious mental health and substance use disorders, we applaud the City of St. Louis for taking steps to address situations impacting vulnerable populations."
Defendants own, operate, and manage the following properties:
- 2837 S. Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri (2837 Jefferson Ave LLC)
- 3142 California Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63118
- 7503 Virginia Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 5800 Pennsylvania Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 4323 S. 38th Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63116
- 4742 S. Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 4755 Michigan Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 7411 Virginia Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 7517 Virginia Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 4623 Virginia Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 3324 S. Compton Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63118
- 201 E. Marceau Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 3304 Texas Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63118
- 4622 S. Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 5714 Pennsylvania Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 4722 Minnesota Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 7522 Virginia Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 2117 Cherokee Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63118
- 2352 Louisiana Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63104
- 4425 Taft Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63116
- 1502 Sulphur Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110
- 3244 Pennsylvania Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63118
- 2726 Texas Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63118
- 5046 S. Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 2343 Virginia Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63104
- 7320 Virginia Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 7341 Virginia Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 4519 Idaho Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 4433 Louisiana Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 2348 S. 12th Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63104
- 6123 Colorado Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 7615 Virginia Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63111
- 4143 Eichelberger Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63116
- 3744 Oregon Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63118
- 1428 Devlin Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63110
- 2751 Chippewa Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63118
- 2627 Wyoming Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63118
- 3200 Portis Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63116
- 2347 Virginia Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63104