On and off since 2014, Danielle Hopkins has rented from Dara Daugherty, the St. Louis slumlord who was hit last week with a lawsuit from the city accusing her of operating “illegal rooming houses” in 39 condemned houses across south city.
Most recently, Hopkins spent roughly five years at a house on South 38th Street in Dutchtown, a house that the city says has been condemned since November 2018. During that time, the city cited the house for a litany of violations and it was not legally habitable. But that didn’t stop Daugherty from collecting $850 a month in rent from Hopkins.
Then there was the portion picked up by taxpayers. Hopkins says that at Daugherty’s urging, she applied for money from a state-administered COVID-19 relief program and ended up getting more than $3,000, all of which Hopkins says went straight into Daugherty’s pocket. Hopkins says that even though Daugherty was getting rental assistance money through her, a corresponding amount was not knocked off the rent. “You need to pay, you need to pay,” Hopkins says she heard from Daugherty again and again.