Fundraiser Available for Legal Defense Fund Against MiddleTown Property Group
7.22.2025 / News / munciepostdemocrat.com
MUNCIE, Ind. — Local resident Alysson Fergison, creator of tenants rights group “MiddleTown Property Group Sucks“, is leading a potential class action lawsuit against MiddleTown Property Group. A GoFundMe page for her legal defense is currently sitting at 70% of its goal of $4,000.
Fergison, who is her mothers in-home caretaker, told the Post-Democrat that the company has attempted multiple times to force them to vacate. In July of 2024, after she requested an accommodation under the Fair Housing Act to be added as a occupant/non-guarantor on the lease, Section Chief of the Attorney General’s Homeowner Protection Unit had to intervene in the situation, preventing them from having to vacate. However weeks later Fergison’s mother, without explanation, was told she would be forced to vacate at the end of her lease.
Fergison told the Post-Democrat: “They could not give a reason, as any reason would make it undeniable that they were forcing her out in retaliation for engaging in legally protected activity. It is against the law for landlords to retaliate against tenants for exercising what few rights we still have in Indiana”. Last night she was featured on WTHR to talk about her experience with MiddleTown.
On Saturday a protest was held for Fergison and the retaliatory eviction. While the event was kept light and short due to rain and thunder, police were called within the first 30 minutes of the protest. While police went inside the building it’s unconfirmed who made the complaint. Officers left the property after telling protesters to remain on the sidewalk, and only monitored the event from across the road.
Fergison hopes that protests and actions against MiddleTown will have a broader impact against predatory actions by many landlords in Indiana. “My hope is that is we can band together as a community to end MiddleTown Property Group that it will set a precedent for others to fight back against predatory landlords when their rights are violated. Ultimately, I hope a successful fight would lead to new legislation being introduced and passed in the Indiana General Assembly to finally start reversing the damage that wiping previous laws off the books in a quest to deregulate everything and reverse this decades-long trend of deregulation for deregulation’s sake. There used to be laws in this state that prevented landlords from being able to get away with what MiddleTown Property Group has been getting away with for years.”
Issues with the company, which also has a division called MiddleTown Living, have been ongoing in the past four years. A protest organized with local members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in September of 2022 brought media attention to a community full of aggrieved tenants. The subsequent public backlash resulted in BSU cutting all ties with the company. The university issued a cease and desist for MTPG to immediately stop using all “Ball State” trademarks, including one of the names of its various fronts, “BSURentals”.
City Council President at that time, Jeff Robinson, stated publicly that the city was limited from being able to act due to state law, though sponsored council Resolution 22-22 to encourage the Indiana General Assembly to better protect the rights of tenants. Simultaneously, Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour announced earlier that year that MiddleTown Property Group would be involved in its Southway Plaza project. From the City of Muncie, March 1, 2022: “After years of being operated by an out-of-state real estate group, the property is now being managed by local property management company, MiddleTown Property Group. Mohindru and MiddleTown are working closely with Mayor Dan Ridenour to make the space a lively destination.”
