Dallas families bracing to lose their housing this June will get some money to relocate. The City of Dallas Housing Finance Corporation voted Tuesday to set aside $300,000 for families renting homes owned by HMK Ltd. – homes that don’t meet housing standards that were strengthened last fall.
Those 305 homes are mostly in West Dallas. The owner has decided to close his rental business, saying that upgrading the 1940s-era properties would be too expensive. Many of the tenants are paying as little as $300-500 a month.
Sandy Rollins with the Texas Tenants Union says $300,000 for relocation expenses is “inadequate.”
“I think the city needs to invest in truly affordable housing," she says. "They need to make sure that not one HMK family becomes homeless as a result of this.”
She says many families renting from HMK Ltd. live on less than a thousand dollars a month and can’t afford to rent a newer apartment or home in West Dallas—a neighborhood that’s undergoing dramatic re-development with financial support from the city.
“It’s just so out of balance to be giving millions to wealthy developers for housing that’s unaffordable while giving a couple thousand to low-income families that have been a part of this community," Rollins says.
She says $300,000 split between all the tenants who need to move will barely scratch the surface.
