The outside of the Eco Motel on East Lancaster Avenue in Fort Worth on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025.
Chris Torres
ctorres@star-telegram.com
A Tarrant County judge issued a temporary injunction requiring the owner of an East Lancaster Avenue motel to take steps to curb crime, including drug sales, drug use and prostitution that has plagued the property.
On Feb. 12, Judge Ken Curry, a visiting judge presiding over the 236th District Court, ordered property owner Shetal Patel and his company RMP Hospitality, LLC, to beef up security at the Eco Motel, 3201 E. Lancaster Ave., after two nearby residents sued, alleging Patel’s motel was a common nuisance in the neighborhood.
The temporary injunction will remain in effect until mid-May, when a trial is expected to settle Eco Motel’s long-term fate.
Patel did not respond to a voice message requesting comment.
The injunction filing said the plaintiffs would “likely be successful on the merits as to their causes of action against the Defendants.” The filing went on to say the plaintiffs demonstrated that criminal activity indeed takes place at the Eco Motel, and that the motel’s owners are aware of and tolerate that activity.
Under the injunction, the Eco Motel’s owners must employ an armed security guard on the premises from noon until 2 a.m. each day, install security cameras and additional lighting and add a fence around the property’s perimeter with a gate to control access.
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Among other requirements, the owners will have to post signs in each room displaying a hotline number for victims of human trafficking and contact information for the Texas Department of Public Safety, and they must stop renting rooms by the hour. Eco Motel employees will be subject to criminal background checks, and no one who is a registered sex offender or who has been convicted of certain felonies within the past five years will be permitted to work there.
During the duration of the temporary injunction, the Eco Motel will be subject to inspection by the city to check for compliance.
Patel and his company were ordered to pay a $10,000 bond. If they fail to abide by the terms of the injunction, they face a fine of up to $10,000 and possible jail time. The court could also order the utilities be cut off to the property and revoke the certificate of occupancy, among other things, if nuisance abatement requirements aren’t met.
Court records cited 96 calls to police regarding the Eco Motel between April 26, 2025, and June 17, 2025. Fort Worth police have nearly 800 pages of offense/investigative and arrests reports related to the property going back to 2015, according to court documents.
The Eco Motel is also one of four properties targeted by stiffer Fort Worth Code Compliance enforcement efforts.
The two plaintiffs suing the Eco Motel’s owners are doing so anonymously and are represented by attorneys from the Dallas office of Troutman Pepper Locke and Dallas attorney Edward Brookins, who is working on behalf of the faith-based nonprofit Act for Justice that helps citizens bring lawsuits against alleged nuisance properties. The attorneys on the case are working pro bono.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Matt Adams is a news reporter covering Fort Worth, Tarrant County and surrounding areas. He previously wrote about aviation and travel and enjoys a good weekend road trip. Matt joined the Star-Telegram in January 2025.