A Dallas County judge has ordered a northwest Dallas apartment complex owner and its property management company to stop retaliating against tenants who complained of code violations, according to court documents filed Thursday.
At a hearing Monday afternoon, Judge Bridget Whitmore granted the city of Dallas' temporary restraining order against property owner Happiness Club USA Inc. and management company Top Choice Properties LLC, doing business as Allied Property Management. Extended for a week.
The court initially dismissed the city's claims on Friday after reports the defendants retaliated against tenants who called 311 complaining of uninhabitable living conditions, water leaks and damage, insect infestations and plumbing problems. Admitted.
Tenants of the Arawak and Granada Apartments, located at 3514 and 3434 Nogales Drive in the Webb Chapel Park Addition, say in affidavits that the property manager is suing them for illegal evictions and fines for violating lease agreements. He claims he threatened her and took her personal belongings from her home.
According to court documents, one tenant said the property manager trashed the apartment, stole a video camera and changed the lock on the door.
The court ordered the defendants to stop increasing the tenant's rent, ignoring maintenance requests, and attempting to evict the tenant within six months of filing the legal complaint. Defendants must also seek court permission before attempting to take any eviction-related action.
The city claimed in a civil lawsuit filed in April that the defendants were aware of “serious life safety issues” and dozens of code violations, but failed to negotiate repairs or follow court orders. .
Dallas Fire Rescue inspectors cited termites, rotting wood and “dangerously loose and unattached posts, balconies, and second-story walkways” on the property, according to the complaint.
The City of Dallas is seeking civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day for each uncorrected code violation. The city also asked the court to appoint a receiver to take over the property, make necessary repairs and submit an accounting of the cost of repairs.
In about two weeks, the court is expected to hear the city's motion for temporary and permanent injunctions and third-party control of the property.
A non-jury trial in the Dallas apartment suit is scheduled for July 23, 2024.
Camera theft, lock replacement
Maria Alvarado Saches said in an affidavit that she had lived in unsafe conditions in the apartment complex for seven years.
“I moved from an older unit in the same complex two years ago because the ceiling collapsed in my unit and fell on my brother,” Sanchez said in a statement.
Sanchez and her children, ages 11, 6, 4 and 1 month, are dealing with constant water leaks from their apartment's air conditioning unit, and the walls are deteriorating and collapsing in places. She says she's worried the second floor where they live will collapse under the rotten wood.
“My family can't take a shower because the water is too hot. We have to collect the water in buckets and let it cool before using it for bathing,” she said.
Sanchez reported that her kitchen sink was clogged on July 25 after the management company ignored her maintenance requests and instead told her to go to a hardware store and buy what she needed to repair the sink herself. , said he made a call to comply with the norms.
On July 28, Sanchez said she was fined $200 by management in retaliation for filing a complaint with the city.
According to court filings, Sanchez said someone from the management company entered her apartment Wednesday while she was picking up her children from school and stole a surveillance camera.
“When I returned to the unit, I found maintenance personnel replacing my door locks. I realized that my camera had been stolen and taken away. I forcibly removed the camera and removed the bracket. “We destroyed the house, along with the wiring that ran into the bedroom,” Sanchez said.
Forced eviction, threat
Maria Becerril, who has lived at the complex for a year, said in a sworn affidavit that her husband was employed by Allied Property Management to help manage the property, but that in February, when a new manager arrived, he left her for no apparent reason. He said he was fired.
Becerril said she was forced to leave on Sept. 30, a month after the city listed her name in the lawsuit information.
“The manager came to my apartment with the manager and told me that if I didn't leave, officers would come and force me out,” she said in a statement. “My children were there and crying in response to the manager's threats.”
Becerril said the property management company retaliated against him for cooperating with the city's lawsuit and repeatedly failed to respond to complaints about leaking air conditioners, stoves and refrigerators not working, leaking pipes and holes in walls. said.
