A Democratic congressional candidate in Michigan who crowed about “cracking down on slumlords” took in up to $50,000 in annual rental income while his own properties got dinged for code violations, according to records reviewed by The Post.
State Sen. Sean McCann, the Democratic nominee in Michigan’s Fourth Congressional District, is the owner of McLam Properties LLC, which controls two homes in Kalamazoo.
Both McCann and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) have touted the candidate’s commitment to tenants’ interests in separate statements.
But according to state records and federal financial disclosures, McCann earns between $15,001 and $50,000 annually from rental properties whose issues have taken far longer to resolve than legislation he’s pushed would have required.
One of the rentals failed a Kalamazoo city code inspection this past January for various fire hazards — including crowding around gas heating units, an expired extinguisher, missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and “excessive” use of extension cords as a substitute for permanent wiring.
Those infractions took four months to resolve, according to rental certificates obtained by The Post.
Records also show McCann’s other property got slapped with at least 11 violations in August 2024 that weren’t fully resolved for 17 months.
That property had been cited by a city inspector for “dangerous” electrical systems, an expired fire extinguisher, a missing carbon monoxide detector, and “peeling” wall coverings and paint.
McCann has served in the Michigan Senate since January 2019 and sponsored legislation that would have penalized landlords for being too slow to fix code violations.
The so-called Tenant Empowerment Package would have forced repairs within 48 hours to conditions deemed “hazardous to life or imminently hazardous to the health and safety” of renters.
Other repairs would have been mandated within seven days of a violation — and tenants would have been allowed to “withhold rent” by depositing money into an escrow account that would only have been released to landlords once the fixes are done.
The Tenant Empowerment Package has caused bitter debate within the Lansing legislature since it was first proposed in June 2024, but has yet to become law.
All code violations flagged at McCann-owned properties were fixed within the timelines required by current law and regulations.
“Sean and McLam Properties LLC follows the law and fully complies with the City of Kalamazoo ordinances,” said McCann campaign spokesperson Simone Archer-Kraus.
“Sean has a history and voting record of siding with Michigan families to stand up to slumlords and in Congress he’ll keep pushing for safer and more affordable housing — because while [Rep.] Bill Huizenga [R-Mich.] sells luxury condos and lines his own pockets, Sean works to make life better for regular people.”
McCann defeated Diop Harris, a former legislative correspondent for ex-US Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), in the Tuesday primary by more than 30 percentage points.
Huizenga, 57, is seeking an eighth term in Congress, having first been elected in 2010.
The Fourth District is one of three Republican-held Michigan seats eyed by the DCCC to flip as the party tries to regain the House after four years in the minority.
