Legal representation increases Dallas tenants chances of avoiding eviction study finds HEAD TOPICS
Legal representation increases Dallas tenants chances of avoiding eviction study finds
10/23/2022 3:05:00 AM Legal representation increases Dallas tenants chances of avoiding eviction study finds
Source Dallas Morning News
Legal representation increases Dallas tenants chances of avoiding eviction study finds Dallas County tenants appearing in court with legal representation during eviction proceedings significantly increases their chances of staying in their... by the Dallas non-profit showed that when tenants didn’t appear for their eviction hearing, landlords won their cases by default 84% of the time; also, when a tenant did not have legal representation at a hearing, the landlord won 79% of the time. But when a tenant had legal representation, the landlord won 10% of the time. The report is based on quality-controlled observations from June 1 through August 5 on three justice of the peace courts: Judge Thomas Jones, precinct 1-1, in South Dallas; Judge Al Cercone, precinct 3-1, in North Dallas; and Judge Sara Martinez, precinct 5-1, in East Dallas. SMU Dedman School of Law students collected the data on 1,135 cases. Read more:
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Read more >> Hate to see anyone get evicted, but landlords have rights too. You sign a lease you got to pay the rent or get out. Just like taking out a student loan, you got to make the payment. we have a whole generation now that thinks they can just walk away. Hays County voters weigh ‘reeferendum,’ races for county judge, DASan Marcos will decide whether to end citations and arrests for misdemeanor marijuana... As the Dallas County Judge Race Gets Personal, Could a Surprise Be Coming on Election Day?Dallas County is reliably blue. Everybody who follows politics knows that, right? Democrats hold all but one seat on the Commissioners Court, with J.J Koch the only Republican. Justices of the Peace Al Cercone and Steve Seider and Constable Ben Adamcik are the only other Republicans serving in elected office... Click Bate....not you too Dallas Observer. 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A study commissioned by the Dallas non-profit showed that when tenants didn’t appear for their eviction hearing, landlords won their cases by default 84% of the time; also, when a tenant did not have legal representation at a hearing, the landlord won 79% of the time.of 9 Hays County Election personnel load voting machines onto a truck to be taken to early voting polling locations from their offices in San Marcos on Thursday, Oct.Clay Jenkins has served as Dallas County Judge since for a decade.Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn MONTGOMERY, Ala. But when a tenant had legal representation, the landlord won 10% of the time. The report is based on quality-controlled observations from June 1 through August 5 on three justice of the peace courts: Judge Thomas Jones, precinct 1-1, in South Dallas; Judge Al Cercone, precinct 3-1, in North Dallas; and Judge Sara Martinez, precinct 5-1, in East Dallas. Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer Show Less HAYS COUNTY — With the Nov. SMU Dedman School of Law students collected the data on 1,135 cases.J Koch the only Republican. In all observed cases, the judge ruled in favor of landlords in 72% of cases and in favor of the tenant in 3% of cases. It will be the first statewide election since Hays County was named the fastest-growing county not only in Texas, but in the entire U. The study shows how eviction occurs in Dallas County and spotlights challenges for tenants to avoid being evicted. 30, 2020. The study shows that low-income renters who are evicted face an increased risk of homelessness and harmful credit reporting hampers their ability to find a new place to live. among counties with a population of 100,000 people or more, according to the 2020 U. Even some of Davis' own party members expressed doubts about her candidacy as she ran an insurgent primary campaign. Ashley Flores, Senior Director of Child Poverty Action Lab, said the study offers insights into what can be done to abate high eviction rates. “Our . census.. And she is raising a lot of money and spending it on advertising.. Sandwiched in between the booming metropolitan areas of San Antonio and Austin and bisected by the bustling I-35 corridor, Hays County grew by 53 percent between 2010 and 2020. Not reading this story on the WSFA News App? Get news alerts FASTER and FREE in the. dual goal is that the tenant can stay safely and securely housed and that the landlord can meet their [financial] needs. So if there are ways that situations can be mediated where, say, for example, a tenant works out a payment plan, or a tenant can tap into rent relief, or other supports … and then the landlord gets what they need, then that’s a win-win situation,” Flores said. Over the past 20 years, Hays has “ping-ponged back and forth” in terms of electing both Democrats and Republicans to state and local seats, said Colin Strother, a political strategist from Buda. Still, her opponent in November, County Judge Clay Jenkins, has held the job for more than 10 years, Democrats still rule the roost and his reelections have been mostly quiet affairs. In August, Dallas County had its highest one-month filing total in at least five years with 4,355 evictions. Through August, 28,845 evictions have been filed this year in Dallas County, an average of 119 per day, a 223% increase over the same period in 2021 and a 203% increase over the same period in 2020. 8, the winners and losers of the election are anyone’s guess. The City of Dallas has added renter protections because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which requires landlords to provide a 21-day notice of a proposed eviction for non-payment of rent before the three-day notice to vacate." That's from former GOP County Commissioner Maurine Dickey, talking in 2010 about Jenkins' predecessor, County Judge Jim Foster , a Democrat. Texas law requires a landlord to notify a tenant in writing, three days in advance, that they must leave their home. “That has such a personal impact on families and small businesses; I don’t see partisan stuff creeping into the county judge’s race like you would expect to see at the gubernatorial level. Law also requires landlords to deliver written notices in specific ways: either taped inside the entry door, or hand-delivered to a person older than 15 years old inside the home. If none of these delivery methods can be done, a landlord can tape it in an envelope if they also mail a copy to the tenant the same day in the same county. The county has added four new polling places to accommodate its expected increase in voters for early voting, which runs Oct. Among his own party, he was widely considered a"doofus. Judge Cercone said in a statement Monday that the Texas Rules of Civil Procedures requires judges to render judgment based on evidence presented at trial. “If a tenant does not appear and provide evidence or question the veracity of the landlords sworn complaint, then the court ‘must’ accept the evidence in the landlord’s petition as true and grant judgment accordingly,” he said. 4. “If a tenant appears, whether with or without an attorney, I always ask a tenant if there is any legal defense.) The point of rehashing this history is to raise the question: Could Jenkins' campaign be suffering from a little hubris? We put that question to SMU political science professor Cal Jillson, our go-to expert on Texas politics. If they offer none, then the case is decided in favor of the landlord as the rules governing eviction cases require. “We’re one of the faster-growing counties in the nation, and if you look at our census numbers, I would expect that type of growth in our voter registration.” Judges Jones and Martinez did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. Other findings of the study: About 67% of eviction cases were due to not paying rent; 25% of cases had unknown reasons, likely because a default judgment was awarded to a landlord and the facts of the case were not discussed. 8: Hays County judge race For the top elected seat in the county, incumbent Democratic Judge Ruben Becerra is facing off against current Precinct 2 Commissioner and Republican Mark Jones. He doesn't anticipate a November surprise. The average length of an eviction hearing was less than five minutes, according to the data collected this summer in three Dallas County justice of the peace courts. Communities of color are disproportionately represented in eviction cases; the likelihood of receiving an eviction is highest for mothers with kids. He succeeded Republican Judge Bert Cobb, who had been on medical leave and wasn’t seeking re-election. Landlords or their representatives appeared in court 99% of the time, while tenants appeared only 46% of the time. (Davis is calling him things that are arguably worse, though. Law governing evictions requires justices of the peace to award a default judgment to landlords when tenants don’t appear for an eviction hearing, regardless of the facts in the case. He was among the first to sign a San Marcos ballot initiative in February calling for the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana possession in the city, a referendum that will be on the city’s November ballot. Tenants who do not appear in court usually cite work commitments, lack of transportation, lack of clarity of the eviction process or plans to move out, according to the study. Tenants in Dallas County evictions had legal representation in only 10% of cases observed. The Buda native has been a commissioner since 2010 and has made transportation initiatives, like the State Highway 45 connector and the FM 1626 expansion, a central part of his policy. Davis is running an energetic campaign, raising $669,606 from July until the end of September. Defendants in civil cases such as evictions don’t have a right to counsel and aren’t assigned a public defender like in criminal cases, the study said. Attorneys for renters can also help negotiate with their landlords, navigate rent relief programs and keep evictions off their records. The latter opponent filed two lawsuits against Becerra seeking $1. The gap in eviction outcomes is largely attributed to a system stacked against tenants both in policy and practice, according to Mark Melton, an attorney with the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center. One way to grab voters' attention is to go negative, and the Davis campaign appears to have learned that lesson, enlivening what is usually a fairly staid race with a series of attacks on Jenkins' character. Melton says that the bias against tenants is so great that unless they have a lawyer by their side during a hearing, some judges find it more convenient to order an eviction and move on because tenants often don’t know how to defend themselves. One alleged slander and false statements from the Becerra camp, and another alleged severe emotional distress following a physical altercation between Becerra’s wife and Burleson at a January event. “People always assume a person who is being sued for eviction as a deadbeat when the reality is that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Melton said. “Most of these people are working multiple jobs trying to make ends meet. Looking forward to Nov."I think Republicans see an opportunity, what with Jenkins' support of strict COVID restrictions, to possibly steal this race. But rent is getting more expensive. And when you are already stretching your budget to its limit, and then all these external forces come in, and inflation increases the price of everything, it’s not like there was anything extra in their budget. “People very concerned about growth tend to lean toward Jones, and south county people who are in a more stabilized growth tend to lean toward Becerra,” Strother said. Every single thing in there was necessary." According to her campaign website, Davis decided to run because of resentment of Jenkins’ support of mask mandates and other COVID response strategies during the height of the pandemic. And something’s got to give.” Criminal district attorney With Hays County Criminal District Attorney Wes Mau set to retire after eight years in office, the stage is set for a battle between two opponents who could not be more opposite: a Republican prosecutor who vows to be tough on all crime, and a Democratic defense attorney who promises to be lenient on misdemeanors. ” The study also found that a notice to vacate was confirmed in 33% of all observed hearings: Judge Jones’ court confirmed notices 30% of the time; Judge Cercone’s 5%; and Judge Martinez’ 68%. Melton and his team at DEAC are raising private money to put a lawyer in every Dallas County court to represent tenants in 100% of eviction cases to keep more people in their homes, something he hopes to achieve by early 2023. As a result, Hays County’s jail has become more crowded and an increasingly painful drain on taxpayer dollars. Jenkins' campaign has repeatedly denied that the judge wore blackface but accepted responsibility for the break-in, saying in an email, “Judge Jenkins apologized then, when he was 19, and continues to be sorry for the poor judgment he exhibited at the time. According to DHA Housing Solutions for Texas’ .