South Side Seniors Say Landlord’s Midnight Tow Sweep Cost Them Hundreds

Several seniors at Clarke Square Terrace on Milwaukee’s south side say they went to bed thinking their cars were safely parked in the paid garage and woke up to find them gone. Tow trucks had cleared vehicles from the building’s garage in the middle of the night, residents say, leaving them scrambling to figure out what happened and to come up with the cash to get their cars back. Tenants say they were never clearly told about a new parking-sticker rule, and the phone number posted for the property manager inside the building was out of service. The surprise bills, nearly $400 in some cases, landed on elderly renters who say no one warned them.

Tenants: 'Both of 'em was gone'

Residents Willie Zanders and Joan Heinritz told reporters they realized something was wrong at the end of April when they went to the garage and saw empty spaces where their cars should have been. They say they were later told their vehicles had been towed because they did not have a newly required parking sticker. Zanders recalled, "I look, and I'm like where my cars at? Both of 'em was gone," and both tenants told investigators they had to come up with roughly $400 each to reclaim their vehicles.

TMJ4 reports that city property records show Berrada Properties bought the complex in May 2025. The company did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Milwaukee law caps tow fees and requires notice

Milwaukee has rules for towing vehicles from private property that are supposed to keep situations like this from spiraling. A city ordinance passed in early 2024 sets a maximum vehicle reclamation charge for standard towing, establishes daily storage rates, and requires that a notice be mailed to the vehicle owner within 72 hours with instructions for reclaiming the car. The ordinance also directs that, when practical, a notice be posted near the place from which a car was removed.

According to Milwaukee Legistar, those limits and notice rules are intended to make sure vehicle owners can find and retrieve their cars without facing a maze of confusion.

Why bills climbed into the hundreds

Tenants told reporters they ended up paying nearly $400 to get their cars back. That kind of total can reflect the towing company’s basic reclaim fee plus daily storage and administrative charges. It is the kind of tab that can build quickly when a vehicle sits on a lot, even for a short stretch.

The amounts residents described are consistent with a near-cap reclamation charge combined with storage that accrues for each day a vehicle remains in the lot, according to TMJ4.

Berrada's wider troubles

The landlord that owns the building, Berrada Properties, has already been under state scrutiny. In December 2024, the Wisconsin Department of Justice announced a proposed settlement requiring the company to pay more than $1.7 million and to operate remediation and restitution programs for affected tenants. Those programs include funds for rent assistance and payments to tenants who paid fees the state alleged were improper, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

The DOJ and local reporting have documented the scale of complaints against the landlord, and Urban Milwaukee noted that Berrada Properties controls thousands of units across Milwaukee and Racine.

Where tenants can turn

Tenants who believe they were improperly charged or not given required notice have local resources that can help them sort out what happened, document their costs, and, if needed, file complaints.

The Milwaukee Rental Housing Resource Center maintains intake and mediation services for both renters and landlords. More information is available at Milwaukee Rental Housing Resource Center. The Milwaukee Justice Center also runs eviction-diversion and mediation programs for people facing housing disputes and can help direct residents to legal clinics and guidance on filing landlord complaints.