Cary Spivak

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Will Sherard was ordered Thursday to pay $64,550 in back building code fines — the second time in seven months that a judge ordered the notorious inner-city landlord to pay those fines.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Glenn Yamahiro's demand that Sherard pay upholds a June order by Municipal Judge Phillip Chavez and effectively orders Sherard to stop gaming the system. For years, Sherard, with Municipal Court approval, had been making nominal payment on the building code fines that date back to 2010.

In his order, Yamahiro noted that the landlord was continuing to buy foreclosed homes, including a property purchased on Monday for $11,700. The judge also noted that Sherard or his company owns about 100 properties and a $119,429 judgment Sherard paid in March 2016. The judgment was issued the previous September for overdue property taxes.

"Within five months, Mr. Sherard was able to pay a $120,000 (court) judgment," Yamahiro said. That provides "a rather strong inference that he has the ability to pay" the building code fines, Yamahiro said.

The fines were issued for a wide range of violations including renting unsanitary or substandard housing or renting a house after the city ordered the property not be occupied.

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Chavez in June ordered Sherard to pay $39,728 in building code fines within 60 days and an additional $24,822 one year later.

Sherard, 76, blamed a series of stories in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for the Chavez order and appealed it to the Circuit Court.

"Due to investigative reporting being conducted and publicized by the media, the Milwaukee City Attorney's Office has sought to implement a new policy that limits the relief of installment payments being authorized by the (Municipal) court," Sherard, 76, wrote in an affidavit filed with Yamihiro's court.

As part of an ongoing investigation, the Journal Sentinel last year reported that on one day in October 2011, Sherard was hit with six fines totaling $45,184. Today, Sherard still owes about $39,600 from those fines.

The fines were not delinquent because every two or three months Sherard would come to court and make a nominal payment of about $100 on each fine. Then he would ask for more time to pay the remainder, a request that was routinely approved by Chavez. Meanwhile, from 2011 through spring 2016, Sherard and his Morocco Investments LLC paid $636,000 in cash to buy 63 more houses and duplexes at the weekly sheriff's sales of foreclosed properties, the Journal Sentinel reported.

Before June, city prosecutors generally would not be present when landlords such as Sherard came to court to make a nominal payment and seek more time to pay the remainder of their large fines. After the stories were published, the city attorney's office asked court officials to notify prosecutors when certain landlords came in to make a nominal payment on large fines.

Timothy Baldwin, Sherard's lawyer, argued the city was taking a "Trumpian" approach by targeting Sherard and demanding immediate payment of his past due fines. Baldwin noted Sherard broke no laws and that the Municipal Court repeatedly approved the nominal payments made by Sherard.

"I don't find any fault (by) Mr. Sherard for taking advantage of that which was offered him," Yamahiro said, noting that the "city attorney's office could have objected years ago."

Assistant City Attorney Patrick Leigl said Sherard was targeted for payment because he "owes nearly $70,000 to the City of Milwaukee and continues to buy properties."

In addition to the $64,550 in fines owed by Sherard, his Morocco Investments was ordered by Municipal Judge Derek Mosley in July to pay $5,300 in back fines. Those fines have not been paid and the city recently filed a garnishment action to seize the funds.

Yamahiro also rejected arguments that Sherard did not have an attorney when Chavez ordered that he pay the fines. Yamahiro noted that Sherard had two weeks' notice of the hearing and that he is a familiar face in municipal and circuit courts.

"Mr. Sherard has been involved in more cases ... than 99.9% of the population of Milwaukee County," Yamahiro said.

Kevin Crowe of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.