The Altman Files: When Public Trust Meets Private Extraction
Court Filing Reveals City Housing Commissioner Linked to 95% Asset Devaluation, "Flash Transfers," and Displacement of 5-Year Tenants in Good Standing.
This isn't just a landlord-tenant dispute. It is a Housing Justice Audit of the mechanical systems that drive displacement in Charleston.
Document Details
Charleston County Court of Common Pleas Case number: 2025-CP-10-05095
Filing Date: December 11, 2025
Document: Supplemental Memorandum in Support of Plaintiffs' Opposition to Defendants' Motions and in Further Support of Systemic Valuation Anomalies.
Contents: 9 Separate sections of exhibits, 5 of which are new to this filing.
Executive Summary
This isn't just a landlord-tenant dispute. It is a Housing Justice Audit discovering how mechanical system thinking applied to the social system of housing can drive displacement in Charleston's Housing Crisis.
On December 11, 2025, Plaintiffs James "Chris" McNeil and Meaghan Poyer filed a Supplemental Memorandum in Charleston County Court (Case No. 2025-CP-10-05095) exposing a stark contradiction: Jonathan S. Altman, a Commissioner advising the City on affordable housing, is the beneficiary of a private family enterprise that systematically devalues assets to avoid taxes while using those same assets to displace long-term residents.
The documents below detail a "Flash Transfer" scheme ($5.00 deeds), a 95% collapse in reported asset value, and the operational commingling that pierces the corporate veil. This is the evidence of a system designed for extraction, not stewardship.
Key Evidence
- Sworn probate inventories from 2006 and 2020 show Charles Realty Company, Inc. stock dropping from $30,000 per share to approximately $1,392 per share, a ~95% valuation collapse during a period of ongoing asset acquisition.
- Deed records for 181 Gordon Street document a same-day $5.00 transfer from Edith Altman’s heirs to SAC 181, LLC, evidencing a “Flash Transfer” into a liability-shielding entity.
- Bank checks drawn on “SAC 181 OP” list Meridian Residential Group’s business address, demonstrating operational commingling between the Altman-owned LLC and the Bayles-managed property company.
- City Council minutes from October 22, 2024 confirm Jonathan S. Altman’s reappointment to the City’s Homeownership Initiative Commission, highlighting a tension between his public role in promoting housing stability and his earlier probate valuations that sharply depressed reported real‑estate asset values.
- Probate filings for the Estate of Samuel H. Altman bear Jonathan S. Altman’s signature as Personal Representative, tying him directly to the disputed valuations and beneficial interests at issue in this case.
For questions about this supplemental memorandum or underlying probate evidence, contact
Chris McNeil, Pro Se Plaintiff
Email: Click here to email with web form
Case: 2025-CP-10-05095, Charleston County Court of Common Pleas
Document Access
The "Smoking Gun" Memo
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Systems View
An iceberg view shows how visible events emerge from deeper patterns, structures, and mental models that offer better leverage for positive change but usually stay hidden.
By drilling all the way from events to mental models, we get to where the system is improved for everyone: tenants, property owners, and property managers all benefit from a system designed for humanity and that flushes out waste. It becomes a non-zero sum game. This page applies that four‑level lens to McNeil v. SAC 181 so readers can see not just what happened, but the system conditions that made it likely, with more background in our full systems analysis of housing justice.
Iceberg Level |
Current State in This Case |
Target State If Stewardship Model Is Adopted |
|---|
Events |
Newly revealed valuation collapse in Charles Realty stock; flash transfer of 181 Gordon Street into SAC 181, LLC for nominal consideration; systemic underreporting of asset values in probate while asserting high values for rent; retaliatory eviction conduct and falsified service against tenants who assert their rights. |
Public filings and courtroom positions show consistent, reality‑based valuations; transfers are arm’s‑length and well‑documented; tenant concerns are addressed through transparent communication and fair remediation instead of gamesmanship, so there is no need for sanctions motions, whistleblower exhibits, or crisis‑driven press outreach. |
Patterns |
Ongoing valuation arbitrage (undervaluation for tax and probate, overvaluation for rent and litigation leverage), use of flash transfers and closely held LLCs to shield liability, commingling between SAC 181 and Meridian operations, and repeated misuse of tenant images and data. |
Stable pattern of congruence: asset values match across tax, probate, lending, and rent‑setting contexts; entities are capitalized and operated distinctly; tenant data is protected and only used with informed consent; disputes are rare because underlying designs align owner incentives with tenant well‑being. |
Structures |
Opaque LLC chains and fragmented registries allow beneficial owners to hide behind probate gaps and liability shields; weak checks between courts, tax authorities, and housing regulators; governance seats (such as affordable‑housing commissions) can be held by beneficiaries of extractive valuation schemes without timely accountability. |
Transparent ownership and valuation structures link deeds, probate records, and tax rolls; single‑enterprise rules and disclosure standards make it easy for courts, regulators, and communities to see who controls what; commissioners and large landlords operate under conscious‑stewardship codes where structural design favors long‑term community stability over short‑term extraction, reducing the need for veil‑piercing and emergency motions. |
Mental Models |
Audience Baseline Position (mechanical / industrial‑age view): If rental property is treated as a set of inanimate units and spreadsheet entries to maximize short‑term yield, then management is simpler and profits are higher, meaning exploitation, displacement, and system‑gaming are acceptable costs of doing business. |
Thought Leadership Position (social‑system / conscious stewardship view): If investment is approached as Benevolent Stewardship and portfolios are treated as living social systems designed from the outside‑in around tenant and community value, then stability, resilience, and reputational capital compound over time, meaning financial freedom and sovereignty arise as byproducts of ethical contribution instead of reductionist, factory‑style extraction. |
Addressing the behavior identified by the filing above as systemic, we propose intervening at the most powerful level: mental models.
We propose that peace of mind and long-term profits are both better served with a conscious stewardship model that rejects the concept that passive investments imply abdicating human-impacting decisions without responsible oversight.
- Baseline Position: "If tenants are treated as inanimate units to extract profit from then rental properties are less trouble to manage which means exploitation is profitable"
- Thought Leadership Position: "If tenants are recognized as humans and the source of profits then the systems functions better which means humanity is more profitable"