The City of Dallas is hauling several landlords and an affordable-housing nonprofit into court, accusing them of discriminatory practices and long-running maintenance failures that tenants say left their apartments unsafe. The lawsuit's name Zahir Properties, which operates Courthouse Apartments, Mid-America Apartments’ MAA Meridian, KPM Property Management and the Texas Workforce Housing Foundation. City attorneys say the complaints describe denied reasonable-accommodation requests and repeated failures to correct hazardous defects.
According to WFAA, one tenant, Ja'shaelyn Carmichael, received a nonrenewal notice in April 2022 and later had part of her security deposit withheld. The filings also allege that Mid-America denied a reasonable-accommodation request for an emotional-support animal and instead required a $500 pet deposit plus $20 a month in pet rent. City lawyers say they are seeking civil remedies that could reach up to $200,000 in each case, based on the documents.
Nonprofit ties and past scrutiny
The Texas Workforce Housing Foundation bills itself on its website as an affordable-housing nonprofit and highlights its work creating workforce units in North Texas. TWHF’s involvement in local properties has drawn municipal attention before. Reporting shows the foundation was named in a 2024 Mesquite lawsuit over dangerous conditions at Tradewind Apartments, and both The Dallas Morning News and a local Hoodline item previously detailed that litigation and the complex’s code-violation history.
Tenants' accounts in the filings
In one case highlighted by WFAA, tenant Jacobe Newton says he endured a broken refrigerator, an unsecured front door and a ceiling defect that allowed water to leak into his apartment. Newton’s May 2023 request to move to a first-floor unit as an accommodation was allegedly denied.
The complaint also states that MAA Meridian required tenant Taylor Monroe to pay a $500 pet deposit and $20 in monthly pet rent before approving an emotional-support animal. Property managers then allegedly rejected Monroe’s accommodation request because the therapist who completed the paperwork was affiliated with U.S. Services Animals.
At Courthouse Apartments, the filings accuse staff of withholding part of Carmichael’s security deposit and refusing to provide rental references. According to WFAA, the station reached out to city officials and property managers about the allegations and had not received responses as of yesterday.
What the city is asking for
City attorneys say the lawsuits are intended to force long-delayed repairs, halt discriminatory practices and secure damages and penalties where the law allows. Dallas’ Fair Housing office, which handles these complaints, outlines how tenants can report discrimination or denied accommodations and how the city enforces federal and local fair-housing rules.
Legal implications
Refusing a reasonable accommodation for a disability, including requests to keep an assistance or emotional-support animal when one is medically justified, can violate the federal Fair Housing Act. That statute is enforced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Justice Department. HUD guidance explains how housing providers are expected to evaluate assistance-animal requests and when they must waive typical pet rules or fees for tenants with disabilities.
The cases are currently pending in Dallas County courts. The city says it plans to press the lawsuits and seek remedies for the tenants named in the filings. Coverage will be updated as new court documents, responses or hearing dates surface.
