DALLAS (Legal Newsline) — The owners of Dallas apartment complexes allege the City unlawfully conducting code inspections on their property.
Arterra Apartments LLC and Paseo Apartments LLC filed a complaint March 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas against the City of Dallas.
According to their complaint, the plaintiffs own and operate apartments in South Dallas. They claim that in December of 2022, they received a "demand letter" from the City of Dallas claiming they were in violation of several Dallas City Code provisions.
The plaintiffs further claim the City demanded monthly entry onto their properties to conduct administrative code inspections. They allege the City's demand letters failed to include any description, context or information regarding the alleged code violations on their properties or identify the location of the violations.
The plaintiffs also allege the City's demand letter does not give a description of the condition "giving rise to the purported violation" or steps for them to come into compliance with Dallas City Code. They claim the City also conducted code inspections with and without their consent and never served them with notice of code violations, written explanations or photos of the code violations.
The plaintiffs claim they informed the City of their unwillingness to grant consent to enter onto their properties and that the City maintains it has the authority to enter the property without an administrative warrant.
The plaintiffs seek monetary relief, interest and all other just relief. They are represented by Kartik Singapura and Laura Lavernia of Bell Nunnally & Martin LLP in Dallas.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Dallas Division case number 3:23-CV-00629-X