Milwaukee Property Ownership Network Project

We identify 48,255 total landlord-owned parcels. The original data includes 28,594 unique owner names using 22,703 addresses.

After applying our network matching process, we find a total of 20,501 owner networks. Of those networks, 71% own just a single parcel, while 18% own not only multiple parcels but also include multiple ownership names.

Of all the residential parcels in the city, 56% are part of an ownership network which includes multiple owner names.

See this companion website for additional summary statistics and analysis.

The most recent parcel ownership records were updated by the City of Milwaukee on Oct 18, 2024. We last checked for new updates on Oct 22, 2024. Corporate registration data was last updated on Apr 10, 2024. Eviction records cover the period from Jan 01, 2016 to Jul 12, 2024, and code violation records cover Jan 01, 2017 to Jun 29, 2024.

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This project aims to identify networks of landlord-owned homes in Milwaukee using the names and addresses listed in public records of property ownership and business registration.

Here is a simple example of how it works. Pretend there are three properties, each with a different owner name:

• There are three owner names – John Doe, John A. Doe, and Doe Props LLC, each represented by a blue square.
• Each own one property, and all use the mailing address 123 Main St, Chicago, IL. It is represented by the green triangle in the center of the graph.
• Doe Props LLC uses that same address in their corporate registration, indicated by the red dot.
• Despite using different names, these properties are connected to form a network because they use the same ownership addresses across all of their public records.