{"id":575,"date":"2017-05-30T22:02:55","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T22:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/no-place\/?p=575"},"modified":"2017-05-30T22:02:55","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T22:02:55","slug":"despite-housing-relief-renters-in-west-dallas-still-on-shaky-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/no-place\/2017\/05\/30\/despite-housing-relief-renters-in-west-dallas-still-on-shaky-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite Housing Relief, Renters In West Dallas Still On Shaky Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week brought news of a\u00a0potential resolution<\/a> for the West Dallas families that were served an eviction notice last fall. Still, there are questions swirling about their homes and their future.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Joe Garcia Hopes To Be A Homeowner\u00a0So He Can Stay<\/h5>\n
\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Garcia and his 84-year-old mother, Lily, in their kitchen on McBroom Street in West Dallas. Photo\/Allison V. Smith<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Joe Garcia drives a teal, 1997 Chevy Tahoe. Perched behind the wheel wearing his trademark white, straw fedora, he gestures across Singleton Boulevard at new luxury apartments going up. He expects he\u2019ll see much more of that kind of construction in West Dallas over the next few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way that the economy\u2019s going … it\u2019s growing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

His SUV is parked at the office of HMK Ltd. It’s the company that owns Joe\u2019s rental home and 300 others, mostly in West Dallas.<\/p>\n

\"West<\/p>\n

A view of The Austin at Trinity Green apartments on Singleton Boulevard. Photo\/Allison V. Smith<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Some have recently been demolished and some stand vacant. After the city toughened housing standards, the homes didn\u2019t meet code. Tenants were told they had to clear out by June 3. Recently, a judge pushed the deadline<\/a> to Oct. 2 \u2014 and the landlord offered<\/a> to make the tenants homeowners.<\/p>\n

HMK landlord Khraish Khraish says he plans to sell many more tenants their homes outright \u2014 and move others to vacant properties a few streets over. They\u2019ll pay about $575 a month for a 20-year, fixed-rate mortgage.<\/p>\n

Khraish says 19 tenants are under contract and eight more are waiting to sign their papers.<\/p>\n

The HMK office gives a perfect viewpoint of what\u2019s happening in West Dallas. The old cinderblock building is next door to a used tire shop. Behind it: a cluster of weathered homes.<\/p>\n

Directly across the street, though, is a new, sparkling four-story apartment complex.<\/p>\n

Garcia isn\u2019t sure how he feels about that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, there\u2019s good and bad,” he says. “It depends what will come out of it. And how the new people that will be around, their reactions and all, that makes a difference.”<\/p>\n

‘It’s Confusing For Everybody’<\/h5>\n

Garcia has a lot of questions about the future of his neighborhood — and his own future. He takes care of his 84-year-old mother, Lily. He\u2019s never owned a home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to get a house once in Oak Cliff but my mom didn\u2019t want to leave the area,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Garcia on the front porch of his home where he lives with his 84-year-old mother on McBroom Street in West Dallas. Photo\/Allison V. Smith<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So he never has. He was born in West Dallas and would love to stay there. Garcia hopes he can buy one of the HMK homes that\u2019s up for sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would make me feel a lot better, and a lot less stressed because I know that it\u2019s mine, and I can do what I want with it,” he says. “Just like an owner would like to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s met with the owner of HMK, though they haven\u2019t come to an agreement yet. Garcia says a lot of other families are in the same boat.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know all the people that are around the neighborhood, it\u2019s confusing for everybody,” he says.<\/p>\n

After months of uncertainty, then a flurry of announcements last week, for Garcia, everything is still up in the air.<\/p>\n

And the clock counting down to Oct. 2\u00a0is ticking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not really able to buy because there\u2019s too much need to be did.” <\/p>\n
Pearlie Mae Brown, West Dallas resident<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Pearlie Mae Brown Has More Time \u2014 Not\u00a0Options<\/h5>\n
\"West<\/p>\n

Brown says she likes “her little house,” where she pays $430 a month. Photo\/Allison V. Smith<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A few blocks south, Pearlie Mae Brown stands in front of her small, yellow house. Her great grandson\u2019s toys surround a tree in her yard. It\u2019s a tree they planted years ago.<\/p>\n

Tears well up as she reminisces.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was just crawling around and he would take the water hose every morning and water the tree,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

Brown, who turns 81 in June, will miss these memories.<\/p>\n

Still, she isn\u2019t stressed out as she was before when she had the June 3\u00a0move-out deadline. Now, she has until October to figure things out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel a little better,” she says. “That\u2019ll give me time to do everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Not Gonna Give Up’<\/h5>\n

Brown lives in a six-block area known as Gilbert-Emory. It\u2019s in the shadows of new apartments and townhomes going up along Singleton Boulevard. Her landlord, Khraish Khraish, says he wants to redevelop this little neighborhood. For the people still living there, he\u2019s offering to sell them other houses he owns.<\/p>\n

\"West<\/p>\n

Pearlie Mae Brown turns 81 in June. Photo\/Allison V. Smith<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Brown\u2019s daughter, Pearline Brown Harper, says the family doesn\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of rumors going around that he was going to sell, but he wasn\u2019t going to sell to the Gilbert-Emory neighborhood because it\u2019s under development,” Harper said. “They\u2019re pushing down houses, putting townhouses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if Brown is able to buy an HMK rental house, she says with her limited income, and the money she\u2019d have to spend on repairs, she can\u2019t afford it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not really able to buy because there\u2019s too much need to be did,” she said. “And I don\u2019t get but $585 a month. And my granddaughter and my daughter and my son \u2014 those three have to help me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harper\u00a0has a simple hope now \u2014 that her mother\u00a0will find another home with none of the stress of this one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not gonna give up until I find that place,” Harper\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

After all, Pearlie Mae Brown has spent her whole life in this one neighborhood.<\/p>\n

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More About West Dallas Residents<\/h6>\n