Jackson Jambalaya

One problem cities face in Mississippi as they fight blight is absentee landlords, especially those who hide their identities behind shell companies.   Tired of such landlords, Jackson is piercing the secrecy veil as it goes after the owners of the infamous Chapel Ridge Apartments in South Jackson.  

Jackson Environmental Court Judge Jeff Reynolds ordered the demolition of Chapel Ridge Apartments  earlier this month.  Judge Reynolds found manager Larry Jackson guilty of four code violations and sentenced him to a year in jail if the complex is not demolished within 120 days.  

.The apartments have burn marks on exteriors and are surrounded by trash, debris, and weeds.  One building has a burned and collapsed roof with exposed rafters while tries and trash decorate the property.   Jackson Municipal Court Judge Kevin Bass declared the property to be a "menace."  

Unfortunately, Mississippi's weak corporate disclosure laws allow absentee landlords to hide behind LLC's, thus preventing the public from knowing their identity. The 

The city of Jackson sued Chapel Ridge Holdings, LLC, New Chapel Ridge, LLC, Larry Jackson, Andrew Pierce, and several John Does in Hinds County Chancery Court on October 16.  

Chapel Ridge Holdings bought the property in 2025 and assumed the loan of the prior owner, Chapel Ridge Apartments, LLC although it was subject to a bank foreclosure.  

Jackson accuses Chapel both companies of concealing the identifies of their owners.  No officers or directors are listed on the Secretary of State's website.  The companies are incorporated in Wyoming. Pierce is a Wyoming attorney who incorporated both companies.  The principal place of business is listed at Pierce's address. The complaint claims: 

29. Upon information and belief, Defendant Pierce is not actually an officer or director of either limited liability company, even though he is represented as such to the State of Mississippi, but instead he is merely the attorney in Wyoming who incorporated these entities under a business model that pursues corporate business by promising to conceal the identities of officers and directors.

Pierce is quite the privacy advocate: 

30. Attorney Andrew Pierce markets his law prncoce as a vehicle for individuals to incorporate entities and shell companies anonymously. Defendant Pierce authored an article, which he promotes on his business website, entided ""Keeping Your Business Afairs Private."" See Exhibit 1, Andrew Pierce Article, available at https://www.thefearlessadvocate.com/article/keeping-business-affair -printe/. ln the article, Defendant Peirce immediately discloses his purpose: ""This article will focus on protecting your identity when conducting business." Said article is intended to ""demonstrate how to structure your companies and finance to be wholly private. Your information won't appear in any public database, nor will it be kept outside of your law firm' and banker's office." Defendant Pierce's article solicits business from individuals with the sales pitch that ""you can shield your identity while conducting business."

The complaint accuses Pierce of shielding the identities of the owners and officers of the two Chapel Ridge companies so they can not be held accountable as they neglect the property and allow it to crumble. 

The city asks the Court to declare Chapel Ridge Apartments to be a public nuisance and asked for a TRO and a permanent injunction.  The complaint requests the Court order the defendants to secure the property, install fencing, and abate the nuisance.  Any insurance proceeds should be spent on repair of the property and nothing else. The plaintiff charges the defendants with unjust enrichment, fraudulent concealment,  and civil conspiracy. 

The case is not yet assigned to a Chancellor.