Philly’s for-profit eviction system slammed in lawsuit after security contractors shot tenants

A Philadelphia woman who was shot in the head by a private security contractor hired to remove her from her home filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit Tuesday, challenging the city’s unusual for-profit eviction system.

An attorney representing Angel Davis, a former tenant of the Girard Court Apartments who was shot March 29, sued the shooter, the rental company that sought her eviction, and Marisa Shuter, a lawyer who enforced most city evictions as the court-appointed Landlord-Tenant Officer (LTO).

Shuter does not have a contract with the city’s Municipal Court, which adjudicates most landlord-tenant disputes. Instead, former President Judge Marsha Neifield Williams appointed her, granting Shuter the right to collect fees from landlords when her private deputies evict tenants on their behalf. Those fees, set by the courts, amounted to more than $1 million dollars annually, prior to the pandemic.

Davis’ shooting was one of three incidents over the last four months in which a deputized landlord-tenant officer fired a gun during an eviction, spurring protests from housing advocates and scrutiny from lawmakers. Municipal Court President Judge Patrick Dugan and Shuter agreed to suspend lockouts last week until Shuter and her officers receive training in use of force and de-escalation.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Court of Common Pleas by attorney Bethany Nikitenko, depicts Shuter as the “unqualified” leader of “an armed security company” that operates with little of the regulation or oversight applied to sworn law enforcement while enforcing court orders.

“I had no idea I was going to be locked out of my apartment,” Davis said at a news conference Tuesday as supportive local politicians looked on. “I did nothing that would warrant being shot in the head.”

» READ MORE: Philly halts evictions by landlord-tenant officer after 3 shooting incidents in 4 months

The suit identifies for the first time the private security contractor who shot Davis: Lamont Daniels, who worked for Shuter since 2018. According to court documents reviewed by The Inquirer, he was facing eviction himself not long before the March 2023 incident.

Daniels could not be reached for comment.

Mike Neilon, a spokesperson for Shuter, declined to respond to specific questions, citing “open investigations or pending lawsuits.”

He said the office was created decades ago to “provide critically needed support for court-ordered evictions” but would not resume operations until reforms are made.

“Currently, no LTO officers involved in pending investigations are working,” Neilon said. “No evictions are currently scheduled or taking place pursuant to court order, which our office fully supports.”

Shuter, 53, hails from a Northeast Philadelphia political family, the daughter of former Municipal Court President Judge Alan K. Silberstein, an ally of longtime Democratic Party leader Bob Brady, while her mother, Dveral Silberstein, held a seat on the city’s Board of Revision and Taxes. After earning a law degree from Temple University in 1993, Shuter was hired by her father as a court administrator.

Her husband, David C. Shuter, was elected to Municipal Court in 2006 and is currently running for retention.

Philadelphia once relied on elected constables to enforce evictions. The Landlord Tenant Officer role was created in the 1970s after the courts abolished the constable positions, in part due to public outrage over accounts of these officers selling the possessions of evicted families.

In 2006, Shuter went to work under the prior Landlord Tenant Officer, Robert H. Messerman, who had occupied that role for nearly 30 years.

» READ MORE: Explaining deputy landlord-tenant officers, who carry out evictions in Philly

Today, most of Shuter’s deputies are drawn from the ranks of retired cops or suburban constables, who usually possess state certifications required to operate in a private security role. After an interview with Shuter, they are formally deputized by a Philadelphia judge and shadow existing deputies for a couple of weeks before going out on their own.

A former deputy, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the work freely, described the job as one of high stress and low pay. Deputies typically work alone, serving around 10 orders a day. While Shuter collects a $95 fee from landlords to serve a writ of eviction, deputies only earn about $20 per order served. They are issued badges and identification, but generally provide their own equipment and vehicles.

The office had gone decades without public reports of serious incidents.

“It used to be easier,” said the former agent. “But everybody’s got a gun. And nobody wants to leave.”

» READ MORE: A Philly tenant was shot during an eviction for the second time in months

Daniels, the deputy landlord-tenant officer sued for shooting Davis, moved to Philadelphia more than a decade ago. Around 2013, he started a company, Protective Force & Fugitive Recovery LLC, providing armed guards to nightclubs and other businesses. Tuesday’s lawsuit names Protective Force as a defendant.

Based on tax liens filed against him in court, Daniels’ business appears to have struggled. He was sworn in by a Philadelphia judge as an LTO deputy in 2018.

Work for Shuter’s office dried up during the pandemic as city courts granted a temporary moratorium on evictions. Like many tenants who were unable to pay rent during the pandemic, Daniels found himself on the other side of landlord-tenant court when his landlord took him to eviction court in 2020 over $9,000 in unpaid rent and fees.

In April 2021, he was served eviction notices by his own employer, but was spared by the citywide moratorium. Ultimately, Daniels moved out and reached a payment agreement with his landlord. In November 2022, his landlord-tenant case was marked closed.

Less than five months later, Daniels was dispatched to Girard Court to evict Davis.

There are conflicting accounts of what occurred during the March encounter. Surveillance footage and 911 call audio reviewed by The Inquirer offer a rough timeline of events.

A courtyard security camera shows Daniels and a representative for Odin Properties, which owns Girard Court, entering the complex around 9 a.m. to eject Davis and her partner, Gabriel Plummer, from their apartment after a lengthy dispute over unpaid rent.

The altercation leading up to the shooting largely occurs off camera.

In a 911 call recorded shortly after 9 a.m., Daniels states that he was in the hallway outside Davis’ apartment when he was “assaulted by a female and her boyfriend” while serving the eviction. He says the tenants wrested away his official identification and that he “deployed” his pepper spray “while she was fighting me.”

He requested a “priority backup” from the police.

Several minutes later, security footage shows Daniels reappearing in the apartment courtyard, pursued by a shoeless Plummer. The deputy appears to use a canister of pepper spray to repel the man.

In a second 911 recording, Daniels says, “She came out with a knife … I’m the one who shot her. I shot her inside her apartment with her boyfriend.”

In a 911 call by Plummer, still barricaded inside the apartment, he states that he was in the bathroom when he heard Daniels — who he assumed was a Philadelphia police officer — attempting to force his way into the apartment. He says Daniels unloaded pepper spray through the door when Davis refused him entry, causing her to fall backward. As Plummer ran to force the door shut, he alleges, the deputy opened fire.

“He shot her in the … head because she wouldn’t let him inside,” he says.

Following Davis’ shooting, another botched eviction led to an officer shoot at a dog — without injury — in late June, and then a third this month, that saw a tenant shot in the leg.

At the Tuesday news conference, Councilmember Kendra Brooks called Shuter’s operation “reckless” and contended the office was “racing through lockouts,” propelled by a profit motive. Councilmember Jamie Gauthier pointed to research showing evictions disproportionately impact Black mothers.

While Shuter’s spokesperson has made it clear the office intends to restart operations, Philadelphia State Sen. Nikil Saval has introduced legislation in Harrisburg to abolish the office.

“One shooting is too many,” Saval said.