Dallas woman fuming over smoking neighbor at complex

By SCOTT FARWELL / The Dallas Morning News

In an age when smoking has been outlawed in most public places – government buildings, bars and pool halls – a person’s home is one of the few places you can puff in peace.

Until now.

A Dallas woman has filed a lawsuit seeking six figures from a former neighbor and landlord for damage she says was caused by cigarette smoke wafting through adjoining walls of her high-end townhome.

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Legal help for victims of Hurricane Ike

If you need legal advice, TexasLawHelp.org offers LiveHelp for Texans who have been affected by Hurricane Ike. Visit TexasLawHelp.org and click on the purple box that says “Need disaster relief help?” A volunteer lawyer will answer your questions.

Insurer fined over discount for religious

FRANKFORT, Ky., Sept. 20 (UPI) — An insurance company discriminated by offering special benefits and discounts only to “churchgoers” and “persons of faith,” the U.S. Justice Department said.

Under a settlement, awaiting court approval, GuideOne Mutual Insurance Company of Des Moines, Iowa, and two of its agents must pay about $10,000 to each of three victims of religious discrimination, the department said Friday. In addition, the companies must pay a $45,000 civil penalty to the federal government.

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Fannie, Freddie, Task Forces Ignore New Tenant Law

It is no surprise that private lenders and their lawyers are attempting to push tenants out of a property after they foreclose so they will not have to comply with the federal act passed in May 2009 (article here), however, it is a little surprising that the bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the GSEs (government sponsored, and currently run, enterprises) that are two of the largest lenders in the country, are misleading tenants too.

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The Reluctant Landlords

With housing prices still in the dumps, many Americans are finding themselves in the uncomfortable position of landlord.

Some have been forced to relocate for a job and can’t sell their houses. Others have moved, but are holding on to their previous homes, hoping for prices to rebound before selling. Many are finding that rent checks don’t come close to covering their mortgage payments.

Hard data are scant on how many homeowners are renting out their homes, but anecdotal evidence suggests numbers are up. In one indication of the trend: More homeowners are converting their homeowners insurance to landlord policies that cover the additional risks of leasing out a home. Allstate Corp., the second largest home insurer in the U.S., reported a 27% increase in conversions in the first quarter from the previous year.

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Travis County Announces New Rental Assistance Program

The Travis County Housing Finance Corporation (“TCHFC”) and the Travis County Health and Human Services and Veterans Services Department (“HHSVS”) have partnered to secure $300,000 from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to offer rental assistance and self sufficiency counseling to Travis County families with household incomes below 60% of the median family Income, through the Tenant Based Rental Assistance (“TBRA”) program.

High demand for local rental assistance needs is well documented by long waiting lists at the two Housing Authorities located in Travis County and the TBRA program allows Travis County to continue to address the need for more affordable housing. “Tenant-Based Rental Assistance is another tool that Travis County will use to help families not only obtain safe and decent affordable rental housing,” said County Judge Samuel T. Biscoe, “but it will also place low income families on a pathway to achieving self-sufficient, permanent housing in a healthy community.”

New Texas Laws Take Effect September 1

Several new Texas laws affecting tenants’ rights take effect today. For details about the new laws or other tenant-landlord issues, call the ATC telephone counseling line at 512-474-1961.

HB 1109
HB 1109 clarifies the existing late fee statute. A landlord may charge a late fee if 1. notice is included in a written lease; 2. the fee is reasonable; and 3. the rent has remained unpaid one full day after the date the rent was originally due (meaning, if the lease states that rent is due on the first, the landlord could not charge a late fee until the third). Effective: Sept. 1, 2009.

HB 1819
The City of Houston must establish a multifamily rental housing inspection program and establish minimum habitability standards. The city is prohibited from ordering the closure of a substandard property unless it makes a good faith effort to locate
housing with comparable rental rates in the same school district for residents displaced by the closure. Effective: Sept. 1, 2009.

HB 2824/SB 408
HB 2824 did not pass, but the provision for the appointment of a pro bono lawyer in eviction appeals passed as an amendment to SB 408. To have an attorney appointed, a tenant must have successfully filed a pauper’s affidavit with the court. Effective: Sept. 1, 2009.

SB 1717
Owners of low-income housing tax credit properties may not lock out or threaten to lock out a tenant for nonpayment of rent. Owners of tax credit properties may not seize a tenant’s property except by judicial process unless the tenant has abandoned the premises. The prohibitions on lockouts and landlord’s liens must be included in the lease contract. Most states prohibit these self-help remedies for landlords in all properties. Effective: Sept. 1, 2009.

SB 2126
SB 2126 was a setback for tenant’s rights. Apartment owners may add a 9-percent service charge to submetered water bills unless the tenant lives in a low-income housing tax credit property or receives housing voucher assistance. Effective: Sept. 1, 2009.

Justice Department to Recharge Enforcement of Civil Rights

WASHINGTON — Seven months after taking office, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is reshaping the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division by pushing it back into some of the most important areas of American political life, including voting rights, housing, employment, bank lending practices and redistricting after the 2010 census.

As part of this shift, the Obama administration is planning a major revival of high-impact civil rights enforcement against policies, in areas ranging from housing to hiring, where statistics show that minorities fare disproportionately poorly. President George W. Bush’s appointees had discouraged such tactics, preferring to focus on individual cases in which there is evidence of intentional discrimination.

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