Imagine looking for an apartment and finally finding one you can afford. The landlord takes your first month’s rent and security deposit, and you move in thinking you’ve found a decent place to live.
But after a few days, you notice a strong smell of weed coming from another apartment on your floor. Then you start seeing people constantly coming and going at all hours of the day and night.
You contact your landlord to report possible drug activity, and he tells you not to worry about it. It’s only Jimmy. And while Jimmy may be a dope dealer, he pays his rent on time.
Sounds far-fetched? Not in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee landlord arrested and charged in federal probe
Sam Stair, 52, of Hales Corners, owner of S2 Real Estate Group, was arrested by federal agents on April 22 and charged with multiple offenses tied to allegations that he rented homes used for drug trafficking.
According to the criminal complaint, Stair’s business model allegedly involved renting properties across Milwaukee directly to drug dealers to be used as “stash houses” for storing drugs or “trap houses” where narcotics were sold. He is not linked to any direct dealings.
Investigators also allege Stair used some of those same dealers to help manage properties and recruit drug-addicted tenants to fill vacant units.
Stair is one of 18 people charged in what federal prosecutors describe as a sprawling drug conspiracy case. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and up to life behind bars.
But this story, first reported by the Journal Sentinel, is about more than a suburban landlord allegedly renting homes to drug dealers.
It gets to the heart of tenant rights and how some landlords exploit poor and vulnerable renters who feel they have nowhere else to go — especially those with prior evictions on their record.
It also shows why Milwaukee would benefit from a Right to Counsel program, which provides tenants with free legal representation in cases involving unsafe housing conditions, eviction proceedings, and abusive landlords.
Feds: Drug dealers provided security and evicted tenants
If you think what I told you was bad, it gets even worse.
According to federal authorities, Stair allegedly hired some of these same drug dealers to provide security and evict tenants who fell behind on rent. Prosecutors also allege he deposited income from the stash and trap houses into the same accounts as legitimate rental income to conceal the source of the money.
So what drugs were allegedly being sold out of these properties? Fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, and other narcotics.
Authorities also seized cash, scales, hypodermic needles, and guns during the arrests.
Stair owns and manages more than 150 properties totaling over 500 units, primarily on Milwaukee’s south side. Weeks before his arrest, he told Journal Sentinel reporters his company provides an “essential service” because it offers affordable housing to low-income tenants and people with prior evictions.
I have news for Stair and landlords like him who prey on the poor: Providing housing to desperate people while forcing them to live in dangerous conditions does not make you a savior. It makes you a predator.
You are not helping vulnerable families by renting them apartments filled with mold, rats, leaking ceilings, violence, and drug activity. You are exploiting people who often feel they have nowhere else to go.
I learned a long time ago that living in poor housing — where things are constantly breaking down, and tenants are afraid to report problems out of fear of being thrown out into the street — is its own form of trauma.
Safe, clean, affordable housing is a basic human right
Decent, clean, and safe housing should not be considered a luxury.
It should be a basic right.
Tenants in Stair’s buildings reportedly complained for years about leaking ceilings, mold, rat infestations, and winter temperatures that often dropped below 60 degrees.
Is this what people who pay their rent on time should be forced to live in?
What about the children growing up in these conditions?
As for Stair’s tenants, the properties have since been placed under outside management, though it remains unclear whether Stair is still financially benefiting from them or maintaining any level of control.
Federal prosecutors have said they want the properties placed into receivership so Stair would no longer be able to oversee or profit from them.
If Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson truly believes 2026 is the “Year of Housing,” then the city must make sure landlords like Stair are no longer allowed to profit from human misery.
Right to Counsel provides layer of security
One way to protect tenants from landlords like Sam Stair is through a program like New York City’s Right to Counsel law.
When disputes between tenants and landlords end up in court, tenants often have little or no legal representation, while landlords almost always do. Providing free legal services not only helps tenants protect their rights, but it also helps prevent landlords from stepping outside the law.
New York passed its Right to Counsel law in 2017, becoming the first city in the nation to adopt such protections. To qualify, tenants must earn less than 200% of the federal poverty level or live in an eviction hotspot.
The impact was almost immediate.
In the first year, evictions dropped 14%. But the law did more than keep people in their homes. It also gave tenants the ability to organize, demand repairs, and hold landlords accountable for unsafe living conditions.
When I worked on a housing project in 2019, I saw firsthand how New Yorkers were able to pressure landlords to clean up dangerous properties, install security locks to keep squatters out, and address other issues without fear of retaliation.
The program also helped landlords comply with housing laws, settle disputes with tenants, and collect their rent.
Safe and affordable housing should be a right.
And no matter what your income, no one should be forced to settle for unsafe living conditions simply because they are poor.
Reach James E. Causey at jcausey@jrn.com; follow him on X @jecausey.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee can’t allow landlords to profit from human misery | Opinion
Reporting by James E. Causey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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