Legal Eagles Swoop Down On Dallas Drug Houses « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth
Stories | West Dallas
Legal Eagles Swoop Down On Dallas Drug Houses « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth.
Concert Benefitting ACT
Stories
Thank you to all who turned out for the Switch concert featuring Texas singer/songwriter Owen Temple. Your support raised nearly $2,500 for ACT. Held at Switch Creative Group’s “Hoffice,” Owen Temple performed for a packed house.
Reid Porter shared his heart about ACT’s mission and the success it is having in West Dallas. The concert was accompanied by delicious BBQ, a festive pumpkin contest and beautiful photography by Sara Kerens. It was a great night had by all!
Her Children Were Afraid to Wait at the Bus Stop
Stories
Elma Canelas, a mother of three young children, lives one lot over from the offending property: a boarded up, abandoned, derelict house where no one has lived in the last 15 years. Living underneath this oppressive situation, Mrs. Canelas worried about the safety and health risks the property posed to her family. She worried about who might be living in and around the owner’s unattended house. Mrs. Canelas knows that drug dealing and prostitution frequently occur at abandoned properties and that squatters will often move in. Her children were afraid to wait for the bus at the stop in front of the boarded up property, so they walk to the next stop, further away from their home, to avoid the abandoned property.
After multiple unanswered attempts by the city and the local neighborhood association to encourage the owner to clean up the property, Mrs. Canelas had no choice but to file suit against the property owner. One week after the owner was served with the lawsuit, the owner cut down the overgrown brush near the house and painted the property. However, the offending owner refused to make any additional repairs to clean up his uninhabited property.
On October 27, 2010, after a year of litigation, a jury of Mrs. Canelas’ peers decided to hold this property owner accountable for his neglect of his property. “This is a victory for the West Dallas residents who had the courage to bring this case to trial and have persevered through what at times has been a difficult and uncertain process,” said Vinson & Elkins attorney John Hill. “While work still remains to be done, the residents have taken a big step forward in improving living conditions for their families, as well as leading the way for others in the community to take courageous stands for their safety and well-being.” Now that the jury has rendered a verdict, it is up to the judge to decide what the offending owner must do remedy the situation.
When asked why Vinson & Elkins volunteered to support ACT, Mr. Hill responded that the firm believes in advocating for members of the community who could not otherwise afford legal representation. “We care about our clients, want to make West Dallas a safer place to raise a family, and enjoy using our advocacy skills to make a difference. Every time you help a client prevail in the justice system, it is a good feeling. Our clients had been suffering for some time, but did not know how to use the law to protect their rights. Now, they have seen that the law can be an instrument for good. Our hope is that others in surrounding neighborhoods will be encouraged by their example and will recognize and stand up for their own rights.”
Check back to see what the judge orders the owner to do on December 15.
From Litigation to Community Collaboration
Stories
ACT (Advocates for Community Transformation) from Reid Porter on Vimeo.
The boarded up structure at 4020 Esmalda embodied the challenge facing many West Dallas neighborhoods: a forgotten home, neglected to the point of ruin that had become a safe harbor for drug dealers.
Living in the same block were three families with young children. The Arredondos worried that their children would be injured by the rotting, failing structure. The Ibarras and the Gonzalezes would not let their children walk alone past 4020 Esmalda for fear of the strangers and perceived illegal activities.
Sensitive to the situation, ACT stepped forward to provide a voice for these families. Partnering with legal counsel from the law firm, Baker Botts, ACT assisted these three families to locate and negotiate with the property owner, Gloria Mabry, and take necessary steps to improve the situation and the safety of the neighborhood. After several unanswered attempts to engage the property owner, a lawsuit was filed. This lawsuit prompted Ms. Mabry to discuss the condition of her property with her neighbors and ACT. What an encouragement to all when Ms. Mabry expressed the same concerns as her neighbors; she worried for the safety of those living around her abandoned house. Ms. Mabry was not a recalcitrant, unconcerned owner but in fact a long-time former resident of West Dallas who wanted to participate in the community’s revitalization and move back into the community!
The case against Ms. Mabry quickly shifted from litigation mode to community collaboration for a just result. ACT and the neighboring families agreed to dismiss the lawsuit against Ms. Mabry if Ms. Mabry would agree to the demolition of the abandoned home. Grateful for their help, Ms. Mabry agreed to assist in the demolition of the house, and then safely maintain her land.
What an incredible picture for all on May 8, 2010 when, working side by side, over 50 people came together to clear the property. Ms. Mabry and her family helped alongside the Arredondo, the Ibarra, and the Gonzalez families. Other residents of the Westmoreland Park and Ledbetter Garden Neighborhood Associations joined, too, as well as volunteers from ACT and West Dallas ministry Builders of Hope. The local community victory was celebrated with music, barbeque and a tremendous sense of cooperative success!
The progress continues: ACT has referred Ms. Mabry to Builders of Hope for homebuyer counseling to move forward with her plans to rebuild on the lot and rejoin the neighborhood.
A Community Stands Against the Owner of a Drug House
Stories
In one particular pocket of West Dallas, the neighbors complain about prostitution, drug dealing and drug use at 3008 Main Street. At that home, there is a constant flow of people coming in and out of the house and hanging out in the front yard. In recent years, the Department of Code Compliance has issued over 15 citations for the owner’s failure to keep up the premises. The Dallas Police Department has arrested almost 20 people at the location for drug offenses. EMS has been out to the property on multiple occasions for reports of breathing difficulty and heart attacks. The police records repeatedly identify this property as a drug house – a threat to the surrounding community.
In a neighborhood working hard to ensure that а safe and healthy environment exists for the families that live there, the owner’s willful allowance of ongoing criminal activities at his property interferes with these efforts, endangering the well being of those who live around it. The families that live near the drug house fear for the safety of their young children and the senior citizens who live nearby. The crime and prostitution at 3008 Main makes these families feel like prisoners in their own homes. In fact, many families have put up fences around their front yard and keep large dogs as a safety precaution.
Faced with the owner’s failure to maintain his property and allowance of ongoing criminal activity at their property, families from the neighborhood have decided to take a stand against this kind of oppression on their community. Desiring to reclaim this drug house for their neighborhood, a group of courageous families have, with ACT’s assistance, taken legal action to address the injuries they have suffered and continue to suffer because of the owner’s unlawful actions.
One Cause of the Problem
Stories
While researching the ownership of one of the homes identified by ACT that had been used for criminal activity in the past, we found that a husband and wife who had multiple children previously owned the home before it became abandoned. Both parents died without a will leaving the home to all of their children without any direction as to who was to take care of the property. Through talking with neighbors familiar with this family, we learned that many of the children were either deceased, or unable to take care of the property because of drug addiction or imprisonment. The remaining children that could take care of the property had fought for years as to what should be done with the property.
As a result, the old family home grew more and more dilapidated. It became a safe haven for crime. Property values of adjacent homes began to fall. The quality of life in the neighborhood began to deteriorate. However, if the parents had written a will before they passed away, the ownership of and the responsibility for the property would have been clear. Rather than the property lying fallow, the responsible party to whom the property was given could have either made the decision to live in and take care of the property, rehabilitate the property, or sell the property to a new owner who could something productive with it.
Our Solution for Prevention: Will Clinic
Stories
ACT, in partnership with two local neighborhood associations, recently held the first of what it hopes to be many, will clinics. Thanks to numerous lawyers, law students, translators and other volunteers, the clinic was enormously successful. Here is what Marie Searles, one of the residents shared with us after receiving her will:
I cannot tell you how much it means to me that you all would give up your Saturday from friends and family to give me and so many of my neighbors a will. You all opened up doors in this community that otherwise could not have been opened.”
With the help of 82 volunteers (29 lawyers, 20 law students, 15 translators and 18 other volunteers) 53 West Dallas residents walked out of ACT’s day long clinic with a free will in hand.
As a result of the clinic, we were able to promote a safer, more stable neighborhood for generations to come through giving the residents of West Dallas assurance that their homes and personal assets will pass according to their wishes after they die. More importantly, we were able to use that platform to speak about the importance of being prepared spiritually for death and the assurance of salvation that can be received through Jesus Christ.
Revitalization Projects: Collaborative Justice
Stories
In many cases, owners are willing to cooperate with the residents of the neighborhood to bring revitalization to their properties and the community. In those situations, ACT has been able to negotiate cooperative solutions that bring together property owners, neighborhood representatives, and affordable housing groups in order to allow property owners to affirmatively recognize that their properties are inflicting harm upon the neighborhood as a whole, and yet move forward to resolve the matter justly and fairly.
A specific example is the property pictured below. Last fall, this abandoned house presented a danger to the neighborhood because of its substandard condition and its active use as a safe haven for crime.
Negotiations with the owner resulted in an agreement between ACT, Westmoreland Park Neighborhood Association, and Builders of Hope, a West Dallas affordable housing nonprofit, which resulted in the tearing down of the property at no cost to the owner. The owner also agreed to maintain the lot for the next five years in good condition, and it is hoped that in that time the owner will be able to undertake the building of a new house on the cleared lot. The residents who live nearby this property now can enjoy their street without the fear of being confronted by criminal activity at the house, and the house is no longer a blight upon the neighborhood. The owner was able to acknowledge the responsibility owed to the neighborhood, and yet was afforded a means of resolving the issue that was within the owner’s capacity and which did not create an impediment to the renewed use of the property that the existing structure would have otherwise presented.
