Immigrant Families Take Housing Complaints to Dallas City Council

Several immigrant families took their concerns over housing to the Dallas City Council Wednesday.[[322978191,C]]

They said that apartments owned by Knightvest Management were "unfairly pushing" tenants out of their homes.

The apartments are called Aberdeen at Bellmar and they were recently taken over by Knightvest.

Tenants told council members that the management company is now asking them to provide forms of identification they don't have to remain in their homes.

Many of the tenants said they only had embassy IDs.

They want the city council to step in and help.

In a statement to NBC 5, Knightvest said Wednesday:

"Knightvest Management, LLC took over management of Aberdeen at Bellmar (formerly Foxmoor) in July 2014. As is common when ownership and management of a community changes, Aberdeen at Bellmar began implementation of its standard rental criteria. Knightvest honored all current leases (in compliance with fair housing laws). Aberdeen at Bellmar’s standard consistent rental criteria is (i) an income requirement, (ii) criminal background check and (iii) no prior broken leases. Knightvest, like most landlords, uses the TAA supplemental rental applicant for non-citizens. Non-citizens are welcome to lease if they qualify. There is no requirement of a “U.S. ID,” only a valid government issued photo ID (which may be from the applicant’s home country) plus proof that the applicants is permitted to remain in the U.S. legally for the duration of the lease term. These documents, or a social security number, is required to obtain a consumer report and properly ensure that the applicant meets our consistent rental criteria per Fair Housing guidelines. These guidelines are also consistent with the City of Dallas Crime Prevention Lease Addendum, which all Dallas landlords are required to use. This Addendum requires applicants to provide a government issued photo ID (for the purpose of confirming their identity and running a background screen) and lets applicants know they can be evicted for any criminal activity at the property by the tenant, or the tenant’s occupants or guests.

"Furthermore, Knightvest Management’s rental criteria aligns with the standard operating procedures of the Texas Apartment Association which represents 11,000 members who are primarily owners and managers of Texas rental property. These TAA members represent 1.95 million rental housing units in the state, providing housing for more than 4.6 million people. Please note that all the documents from Texas Apartment Association can be retrieved at www.taa.org. Knightvest Management has a great reputation and was highlighted in the DMN a few years ago."

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