2026-09-29 · housing
Trial kicks off in lawsuit over St. Louis’ failure to evict sidewalk encampment
A jury trial opened Monday in an inverse-condemnation suit by two Tower Grove South homeowners who say the City of St. Louis let a Sudanese couple live in a tarp-and-shopping-cart structure on the sidewalk in front of their house for 44 months, from August 2020 until the city tore it down in April 2024. The plaintiffs seek $66,000, the rent they say the property could have earned; Assistant City Counselor Erin McGowan argued the city “was pouring resources to get them off the streets” and formed a task force in 2023. The trial is expected to last three days.
Media coverage at the time reported the couple back on the street at South Spring and Gravois within days of the April 2024 removal.