Obed Manuel
Just In Time To Avoid Court-Scheduled Eviction Deadline, West Dallas Residents Facing Eviction Will Be Allowed To Purchase Homes From Landlord After All.
Turns out you can beat City Hall.
In what can only be described as a huge middle finger to Mayor Mike Rawlings and his developer allies, 130 low-income families who had been threatened with the possibility of eviction may end up going from tenants to homeowners thanks to the decision made by landlord HMK Properties to sell its rental homes, the Dallas Observer reports.
The plan to sell 130 rental homes at $65,000 a pop was announced at a Monday morning press conference where landlord Kraish Kraish, District 6 council candidate Omar Narvaez, community leader Hilda Duarte and numerous tenants stood side by side, announcing the decision.
“I have been moved and transformed by the relationship of Omar, Hilda and Ronnie,” Kraish said at the press conference. “Their concern for these families gave me a change of heart. I realized what needed to be done for these families and this community.
HMK will finance the sales with a fixed rate over 20 years and will hold on to a right to buy back the house or refuse any potential sale to a developer. HMK plans to redevelop the rest of the properties for high-end living and other commercial uses. At the press conference, Kraish said that option was included to prevent a developer from talking a family into selling their property.
A judge also extended an injunction to keep those renters in their homes past the previously set June 3 deadline.
The big issue for most of the families is if they can bring their homes up to city inspection code, which has been the heart of the matter since the issue arose late last year.
No public statement is available from the West Dallas council representative Monica Alonzo, who surprisingly received the Dallas Morning News‘ endorsement yesterday in the District 6 city council seat runoff election set for June 3.
Cover photo courtesy of Francisco Resendiz.