A Dallas boarding home allegedly removed residents before their lease ended without following the proper legal procedure. A video shared by attorney Mark Melton on July 31 on Facebook shows the tense scene as Elaine Shockley and several other tenants were evicted from a Buckner Terrace neighborhood boarding home on the east side of Dallas.
In the nearly 10-minute-long video, residents claimed that the managing company, MKB Community Living LLC, was evicting them illegally. Their lease was still valid, they said, and they were not behind on rent, nor had they ever received any legal court orders permitting eviction.
Mark Melton founded the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center and is one of the attorneys offering pro bono legal counsel for affected tenants.
He explained that the organization exists to ensure that “the rights of tenants are protected through the provision of passionate and committed lawyers at no cost.” He said their focus was “on one thing, and one thing only — seeking housing justice by helping those in need stay in their homes.”
To evict someone in Texas, landlords must follow a specific legal procedure. In instances where this system is not followed, Melton’s Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center aids illegally evicted tenants in court against the landlords.
Melton told The Dallas Express, “Most evictions are illegal…or at least the way they are done is illegal. On average, tenants win around 20% of the time. But of the nearly 1,400 cases we’ve argued this year, we’ve won around 97% of them.”
The property owner, MKB Community Living, has refused to answer media inquiries. However, in an interview on July 12, Boyd referred to MKB Community Living as still operating, saying it is “an unlicensed group home business in the Dallas Fort Worth area.” She said its specialty “is providing affordable housing in a shared living space to vulnerable populations.”
Melton told The Dallas Express that all affected boarding home residents except for Elaine Shockley have been relocated to permanent housing. He is working with city officials to find a licensed boarding house.
