Time to Add ‘Slumlord’ to ‘Toine’s Resume

Antoine Walker’s nightmarish year continues to get worse and worse: “Amid a pile of financial troubles and legal actions capped off earlier this year with his arrest in Nevada for nearly $1 million in bad gambling debts, Walker is being pursued by city officials, bank attorneys and tenants’ lawyers for housing problems that have resulted in what the city says are public hazards. Real estate investment companies that list Walker as an investor or principal — Walker Ventures LLC and AW Realty LLC — are the target of more than a dozen lawsuits alleging poor management of numerous properties, unpaid debts and damages caused by shoddy repair work. In one case last month, the city won $950,000 in court-ordered fines against Walker Ventures. Speaking to the Tribune Friday by telephone, Walker seemed contrite about the problems, blaming them on the bad economy, ‘a lot of financial mistakes throughout my career,’ and putting trust in other people. ‘I would like to humbly apologize to everyone who has been affected by the failings of my company,’ Walker said. ‘It was never intended to present (tenants with) unacceptable living conditions.”‘