When Mark Melton traveled to Austin last year to testify about the need for tenants’ rights and legal aid, the response he heard was, “Aren’t you just delaying the inevitable?”
The Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, which Melton founded, represents thousands of Dallasites facing eviction in court each year. A majority of cases that the Center wins are won on technical grounds, whether because a landlord failed to properly notify a tenant or due to some other procedural error. While Melton feels strongly about the necessity of due process in eviction proceedings, he also understands why skeptics jump to that “inevitability” conclusion.
“That’s a pretty natural assumption to make,” he said. “So I was curious at that point. OK, it’s a fair question. What’s the answer?”…