The conditions under which Dallas’ COVID-19 eviction ordinance were created don’t really exist today. That's why the city is looking for a new ordinance.
Mark Melton, founder of the nonprofit Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, wrote the original COVID-19 eviction ordinance.During the pandemic, Dallasites have had additional protections against evictions through an ordinance passed by City Council in April 2020.
That’s why some at City Hall are working on changes to the original ordinance, as well as a permanent ordinance that would last long beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The argument to end the eviction protections, Melton explained, was that “the policy reasons that underlie this eviction ordinance no longer exist. So, if the reason to have the ordinance was X, Y, and Z, and X, Y, and Z are no longer true, then that must logically mean there’s no reason to have the ordinance, which isn’t crazy.”
If there’s still no action, the landlord can file the eviction petition in local court on the 61st day after the initial notice. Under the changes that the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center and Apartment Association of Greater Dallas have discussed, tenants would instead get 10 days to respond to a notice of eviction and present some evidence that they've applied for rental assistance. As long as they do that, they get a full 60 days to figure out how to pay what they owe. Additionally, the proposed change “untethers the ordinance from having a direct COVID-related excuse,” Melton said. “Now, it can be anything.
The number of evictions in Dallas has held relatively steady. From Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, there were 19,645 evictions filed in the city of Dallas, according to the Child Poverty Action Lab. The average amount owed upon an eviction filing was about $2,454, and totaled some $49.6 million. About 13% of all Dallas evictions came out of one ZIP code, 75243. Evictions in August were at a pandemic high of 2,548. The all-time high was in January 2020 with 2,997 evictions filed.
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