As rising costs squeeze the finances of DFW-area families, NBC 5 Investigates has discovered a staggering number of people are at risk of losing their homes.
A recent analysis of court data from Dallas’ Child Poverty Action Lab shows about 49,000 eviction cases were filed in Dallas County in a single year. But what may be more surprising is who is impacted most and what might be done to break the cycle.
It’s the moment so many North Texas families fear: The constable shows up and movers are ordered to put all of the family’s belongings on the lawn while they look for a new place to sleep.
Arnaldo Gines Rodriguez, NBC 5 Investigates
Arnaldo Gines Rodriguez, NBC 5 Investigates
A Dallas County Constable oversees an eviction.
On average, Dallas County families face eviction lawsuits more than 4,000 times each month and more than 950 times each week. According to the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, a legal aid organization, at least half of the families sued for eviction are parents raising children, and about one-third are single mothers.
Tasha Broussard told NBC 5 Investigates that when she was evicted, her four children lost the home they called their own.
“I just grabbed me and my kids and they was just throwing everything out, just putting everything out,” Broussard said. “Me and kids just sitting there looking, and then they look at me and it’s like, ‘But mom, but mom.’ And I’m looking like, ‘I don’t know what to do.'”
Edward Ayala, NBC 5 Investigates
Edward Ayala, NBC 5 Investigates
With help from volunteers connected to the For Oak Cliff community center, Broussard was able to get back on her feet and find a new apartment for her family. But Broussard said she’s already struggling to pay the rent at her new home and fears another eviction.
“So I’m a behind a bit, well, not a bit but a lot. But, you know, I try to make it, I try to make it,” Broussard said.
“Making it” can sometimes feel like an impossible task because rent at apartments in Dallas-Fort Worth has increased so much over the years that it exceeds what many low-income families can afford.
Broussard said the $1,600 a month she makes as a patient care technician at a local nursing facility isn’t enough to cover her $1,700 rent. After a full day of work at the nursing facility and picking up her children, Broussard said she often takes on small jobs, going back to work to try to cover the rest of her family’s monthly expenses.
Arnaldo Gines Rodriguez, NBC 5 Investigates
Arnaldo Gines Rodriguez, NBC 5 Investigates
A Dallas County Constable oversees an eviction.
“I do hair. I clean. I’m a jack of all trades, but a master to nothing. I would do whatever it takes to take care of me and my family,” Broussard said.
The cost of housing leaves nothing for meals. Tasha said most of the family’s food comes from SNAP benefits and trips to area food banks. The daily battle to feed the family and pay the landlord leaves little time for anything else.
Broussard said her kids keep her going and give her a reason to keep fighting, knowing that she is all they have to rely on.
“My kids. I look at them, they all I got. You know, it’s just me and my kids,” Broussard said. “Some days I get up and I’m like, ‘Oh God, I don’t want to go to work. I ain’t got the strength to make it.’ And I look at them, ‘Mom, I got this coming up,’ I’m like, ‘OK.’ I put on my shoes, brush my hair.”
Edward Ayala, NBC 5 Investigates
Edward Ayala, NBC 5 Investigates
Tasha Broussard walks with her family in their Dallas County neighborhood.
Mark Melton, who founded the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, said single mothers like Broussard are working as hard as anyone he knows and that stories like hers reveal the troubling reality of the city’s affordability crisis.
Five years ago, Melton said he could help a family find an apartment for about $900 a month. That same apartment now rents for $1,400 per month, and Melton said paychecks haven’t increased by an equitable amount, which is leading to more families being evicted.
“These are not bums sitting on a couch playing video games doing nothing. These are single moms that are working multiple jobs just trying to put food on the table for their kids,” Melton said.
Adding to the stress, Melton said Texas law provides one of the shortest periods between a lease breach and occupant removal, making it easier for landlords to evict families quickly. The law leaves families facing financial trouble little time to make arrangements to pay back rent or find a place to move before they are sued for eviction.
Arnaldo Gines Rodriguez, NBC 5 Investigates
Arnaldo Gines Rodriguez, NBC 5 Investigates
Mark Melton, the founder of the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, talks with NBC 5 Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman, right.
Kenneth Mohammed, with American Consumer Credit Counseling, told NBC 5 Investigates that the law is putting more Texas families on the brink.
“Evictions are definitely on the rise. It’s probably higher than anywhere else in the U.S. Again, because after one missed rent payment, you can go to eviction and start filing notices,” Mohammed said.
Having an eviction lawsuit on your record makes it harder to find another place to rent. Melton said most apartments will not consider an application if the renter has had an eviction lawsuit on their record in the last two years. During the pandemic, Texas halted evictions, but since the state lifted the restrictions, courts in North Texas have been flooded with eviction lawsuits.
Dallas County Precinct 5 Chief Deputy Constable Eduardo Salazar said his staff is trying to keep up with the volume of eviction notices while providing families with information about where they can turn for help.
Arnaldo Gines Rodriguez, NBC 5 Investigates
Arnaldo Gines Rodriguez, NBC 5 Investigates
Dallas County Precinct 5 Chief Deputy Constable Eduardo Salazar.
It’s messy right now, messy times,” said Salazar, of the emotional toll the eviction takes on families and their children. “This by far is the hardest job that I’ve ever had, by far.”
Tarrant County courts are swamped, too. Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace Sergio De Leon said he’s often got dozens of eviction cases on his morning schedule and that people are paying more for gas, groceries and rent while wages are not keeping up.
On one recent morning, Judge De Leon heard from families like Ashley and Brian Tolliver, who are expecting their second child. Ashley has a high-risk pregnancy that’s reducing her ability to work and said that’s put the family behind on the rent.
“Due to the lack of hours, my husband has actually been our sole provider. He works full-time. He works every day, every week, but it’s just not enough right now. Everything is getting more expensive,” Ashley said.
Arnaldo Gines Rodriguez, NBC 5 Investigates
Arnaldo Gines Rodriguez, NBC 5 Investigates
Ashley Tolliver.
It’s often a sudden loss of income or emergency expenses that lands a family in eviction court. For Broussard, there’s little time to focus on the fear of what might happen. She’s focused instead on finding a higher-paying job and is applying to local hospitals, hoping for a hand up out of housing insecurity. Meanwhile, she said she’s getting by on the goodness of her neighbors, nonprofits, and families who are giving shoes and clothing.
“Nothing but wrapping their arms around me. Nothing but, come in. Let me help you. Let me meet you where you’re at,” Broussard said.
Broussard is one of many Dallas moms finding a way to survive in a city that feels like it’s priced them out.
“You know, you have to be mom. You have to that superhero and still put that cape on every day and go out there like and wear a smile when it’s painin’ and nobody sees the pain that you have,” Broussard said. “You have put that smile on to keep going every day.”
Housing advocates point to three policy changes that they believe would help more families avoid losing their homes and find places they can afford.
Edward Ayala, NBC 5 Investigates
Edward Ayala, NBC 5 Investigates
Tasha Broussard walks with her family in their Dallas County neighborhood.
They said they would like to see state laws changed to give renters a little more time when they get behind. Landlords have said they need to be able to evict quickly to avoid problems with squatters in buildings. But legal aid groups said a short time, maybe a week, would help more families either figure out the rent or find a place to land and avoid the mark of an eviction lawsuit on their credit.
Advocates said there’s also a need for more one-time rent relief programs to help families make the payment in that one month when they have an emergency.
Lastly, in the long term, advocates said they need more public and private investment in affordable housing to build more apartments that lower-income working families can afford.
As our reporting continues, NBC 5 Investigates will keep digging into how that might be done.