Aaron Mondry

2 weeks ago | outliermedia.org | Aaron Mondry

When Princess Brown moved into her house in Jefferson Chalmers last year, she started noticing problems almost immediately. The washing machine didn’t work. A bathroom vanity was detached from the wall. Mold spread from a leaky sink pipe. There were sizable gaps in the baseboard. The basement flooded regularly, sometimes with raw sewage. So Brown did what many Detroit tenants are advised to do: She put her rent in escrow, hoping to pressure her landlord to fix the problems.

1 month ago | outliermedia.org | Aaron Mondry

This story is part of The Speculators of Detroit, which looks at how bad actors have destabilized neighborhoods, left many residents without safe housing and cost the city hundreds of millions. Five years ago, the City of Detroit filed three high-profile lawsuits targeting some of Detroit’s most notorious slumlords and speculators: Salameh Jaser, Michael Kelly, and father-and-son duo Steve and Stephen Hagerman. City officials took a big swing.

1 month ago | outliermedia.org | Aaron Mondry

This story is part of The Speculators of Detroit, which looks at how bad actors have destabilized neighborhoods, left many residents without safe housing and cost the city hundreds of millions. Earlier this year, the cryptocurrency-based real estate marketplace RealT was struggling to manage its vast portfolio in Detroit. The Florida company had racked up more than 1,000 blight tickets and owed the city more than $2 million in fines and unpaid taxes across hundreds of properties.

Mar 4, 2025 | deadlinedetroit.com | Aaron Mondry

This story was originally published by Outlier Media, a nonprofit newsroom designed to center and respond to Detroiters’ needs. Dan Austin has spent the past six months doing what he does best — reflecting on the past. For nearly two decades, the Detroiter has lived and breathed the city’s history, steadily documenting its historic buildings, landmarks and famous figures.

Feb 27, 2025 | outliermedia.org | Aaron Mondry

Zoe only stayed one night in a home owned by Jeffrey Cowin. That’s all it took for her to know she needed to leave. In 2022, she moved to Detroit for her first job after law school and found what seemed like the perfect rental in Brush Park — a room in a beautiful, historic mansion with a close friend and two other women. Cowin seemed friendly — maybe too friendly. Cowin, 44, is tall and fit. Several former tenants described him as charismatic.