Dallas proposes new rules for local boarding houses

Since Texas passed a law in 2021 tougher penalties for people running illegal boarding houses, Dallas has been working on changes to how it regulates them.

Senate Bill 500, which went into effect in September 2022, increased the maximum fine for illegally operating a boarding house from $500 to $2,000, with the possibility of a 180-day jail sentence for the operator. Now the city is looking for additional ways to combat illegal or unscrupulous care home operators and ensure a better quality of life for their residents.

The Dallas Committee on Quality of Life, Arts and Culture discussed proposed changes to the city’s residential care ordinance at its meeting yesterday. At the end of the meeting, the committee decided to send the proposed changes to the entire city council for consideration.

The City defines a boarding house as an establishment that provides housing for three or more people who are not related to the owner by blood or marriage, and provides certain services. These may include laundry services, grocery shopping assistance, money management, and more. There are about 180 residential homes registered in Dallas, Christopher Christian, the city’s director of code enforcement, said at a meeting yesterday. More than a third of them, 63 people, live in the 8th City Council District, represented by Tennell Atkins. Next in line is City Councilwoman Carolyn King Arnold, District 4, home to about 36 boarding houses.

There are also many unregistered boarding houses, so the exact number in the city is difficult to keep track of. But the city has concerns about licensed facilities and how they treat their residents. In some licensed boarding houses, the city finds it difficult to prevent abuse, neglect, or exploitation of residents, issues for which it often receives complaints. There are also no rules in Dallas regarding how close boarding houses can be to each other.

“I’m worried about people in the gray zone” – Chad West, Dallas City Council.

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The new rules may be different. If approved, nursing homes must be at least 1,000 feet apart. This applies only to new boarding houses. The existing will be allowed to remain where they are. A new language will also be included, requiring a separate license for each boarding house run by a person.

The proposed changes to the Dallas Nursing Home Ordinance include some quality-of-life improvements. For example, current city law requires registered nursing homes to provide a refrigerator, but does not specify its size, and requires those accommodations to have a kitchen with a stove or microwave. Changes proposed yesterday would require refrigerators to be at least 12 cubic feet and kitchens to have a microwave and stovetop.

Tenants of some of these properties have told city officials that they often fear retaliation from owners. Tenants are not always aware of their rights to these objects. The proposed changes would require operators to post information about the rights and obligations of tenants, as well as include language specifically stating that reprisals against residents are prohibited.

Arnold compared the city’s problems with boarding houses to those of short-term rentals. She said they bring unwanted activity to nearby areas. “We have the same problems, council members, with boarding houses as we do with short-term rentals, because we find … people who wander around leaving garbage,” she said during a committee meeting. “We see destructive ambulances arriving at all hours of the day or night.”

Many of these issues came up in April, before the city council voted to increase penalties for owners of illegal boarding houses under SB 500.

At the time, District 1’s Chad West said addressing these issues could lead to new ones, such as moving residents. If the city closes all the boarding schools that are out of order or those that operate illegally, the displaced residents will simply add to the number of homeless people on the street or in shelters looking for help that is not always available.

At the time, West asked city employees if there was an official or department that oversees the welfare of residents in Dallas residential homes. Jessica Gallishaw, of the city’s Office of Public Assistance, said that, by definition, a nursing home must provide certain services to residents. However, compliance with the code checks nursing homes every 90 days. Residents of a boarding house can complain about compliance with the code of poor conditions, in which case the facility will be re-inspected. Gallishaw said the Office of Public Assistance is coordinating with residents if they are about to be displaced due to code violations at their boarding home.

“I’m worried about the people in the gray zone… the bad ones that we’ve heard about,” West said. “I think these residents, if there is a problem, they are probably too scared to lend a hand because they may not have another place. They will be homeless if they lose this. I don’t really have a solution for this. It’s just a gap that worries me.”

It’s a complex issue, City Council member Adam McGough said in April. “This council wants to really strongly support restrictions against unauthorized, illegal homes where the conditions mentioned are absolutely terrible and people are being kept in warehouses,” he said. “At the same time, we are trying to cope with the growing number of homeless people, where [displacement] absolutely a problem.”

But, according to him, this is to some extent beyond the capabilities of the city. “… The state has always sent people to these houses all over the city, whether they were licensed, unlicensed or whatever,” McGough said.

Aside from a recent increase in fines for unlicensed nursing home operators, the city’s ordinance has not been updated since 2015. The proposed changes to the ordinance will soon be voted on by the city council as a whole.