An eviction ordinance being developed by the City of Dallas could be detrimental to landlords and drive affordable housing away from the city.
The City Council approved a temporary eviction ordinance in November, replacing the previous ordinance from the COVID-19 pandemic, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The City is now developing a new permanent eviction ordinance that would extend the time tenants have before they must vacate a property if evicted.
However, this change could have disastrous unintended consequences, according to Jason Simon, director of government affairs for the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas (AAGD).
During an interview with The Dallas Express, Simon said the potential new ordinance would delay the eviction process “in an attempt to override existing state law.”
“Obviously, we have great concerns,” he said. “The rules and procedures for evictions are state law [under] the Texas Property Code.”
Simon said he thinks this ordinance, along with a similar one passed last October in Austin, is attempting to take the evictions protections of the pandemic and permanently enshrine them into law.
Simon said that he and others have met with City Council members and staff to discuss their concerns, but the ordinance seems to be moving forward as planned.
The ordinance will be presented to the City Council Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee during its next meeting on April 24 before going to the full City Council.
“What this ordinance would do is delay the [eviction] process and really provide no financial relief,” Simon explained.
When a landlord files an eviction notice for something like unpaid rent, the tenant has legally protected time to find financial support and potentially challenge the eviction.
However, this upcoming ordinance would extend that time period, meaning the landlord is receiving no rent payments while the tenant continues to occupy a unit.
“Our property owner members still have mortgages to pay, and property taxes to pay, and insurance, and payroll for their employees, [and] upkeeping maintenance on the property. All that’s delayed when the rent is not paid,” Simon explained.
He said the ordinance would “add seven days to the front end of the eviction process.”
“You would have to serve a seven-day notice. If the tenant responds within the first five days, they would get an additional 20 days to come up with the rent,” Simon continued.
“If the tenant responded on the sixth day … the tenant would get an additional 10 days before the landlord could provide the notice to vacate under state law, which is three days. So you’re adding 20-plus days, presumably, at a minimum, on the front end of the eviction process before the landlord could even file an eviction,” Simon said.
“Once you file with the court, it’s taking several weeks now in Dallas County to get a court date. So you’re adding that time as well by the time you get to court,” Simon said.
Under the CARES Act, landlords who have federally-backed mortgages (such as mortgages with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac) must give “an additional 30-day notice” on top of the seven-day and 20-day notices.
“After that period expires, you have to give an additional 30-day notice before you can go to court to try to get possession of your property back. We’re having some members tell us that by the time they get to court, some of their tenants are maybe 100 days behind on rent,” Simon said.
He noted that even if a judge rules in favor of the eviction, the tenant has the legal right to appeal that decision and continues to live in the apartment rent-free during the appeals process.
“If the landlord does get a judgment in [justice of the peace] court, that just entitles the landlord to possession of the apartment. They don’t get any of that back rent. … All that rent that has not been paid for months and months is all lost,” Simon said.
The position of the AAGD is that the eviction process should be reformed at the state legislature, according to Simon.
Simon said that one of the consequences of this ordinance could be that landlords simply choose to sell their properties in the City of Dallas in favor of buying properties in neighboring municipalities.
He said that about 90% of the property managers in Dallas are members of the AAGD, and hundreds of them have expressed opposition to this ordinance.
He said the vast majority of them have said they will not be able to continue operating in the City of Dallas if this ordinance passes.
“It’s the smaller owners … these are the members that are providing affordable housing in Dallas,” Simon continued. “And there’s not a lot of affordable housing left.”
While City leaders champion the need for more “affordable housing” in Dallas, especially as a solution to the city’s crisis of homelessness that continues to get worse, they are pushing a policy that would actively drive away the citizens who actually provide affordable housing to Dallas residents.
However, other community advocates have expressed support for the ordinance.
“This ordinance gives a brief window of time to cure. So as long as I can cure whatever the breach was, then I get to stay, which is super helpful,” Mark Melton of the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center told The Dallas Morning News.
Melton also insisted that the legal battles between landlords and tenants are rarely “fair.”
“Well, [eviction battles have] always been an unfair fight, just in the other direction. The last time I saw a judge grant a tenant a continuance was never. But they grant them as a matter of course to landlords every time they ask,” Melton said, per the Dallas Observer.
The Dallas Express will continue to report on the development of this eviction ordinance.