Role of Junk Fees in the Dallas Rental Housing Market
During summer 2024, CPAL began to explore the role of junk fees in the rental housing market in Dallas, Texas, with a specific focus on how common they are, how they impact affordability, and how they are disclosed to apartment-seekers.
In CPAL's sample of the 2024 rental housing market, junk fees were pervasive, made housing more expensive, and were poorly disclosed to renters. Junk fees increase monthly housing costs, make price comparison shopping more difficult, and undercut competition by incentivizing landlords to hide the true cost of an apartment.
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Dallas College students who are evicted more likely to drop out, not return
CPAL’s study with Dallas College reveals how an eviction can have harmful and long-lasting impacts on young adults.
- Dallas College students who haven’t experienced an eviction earn a credential at about 7.5 times the rate of students who do have an eviction filing against them.
- Dallas College students who faced an eviction had a persistence rate 60% lower than the first-time students cohort; the eviction cohort also had a 50% lower retention rate compared to the first-time students cohort.
Legal representation increases Dallas tenants’ chances of avoiding eviction
CPAL data underscores the importance of legal representation in eviction cases which keeps tenants housed.
- CPAL data reveals how courts rule in landlords’ favor 84% of time when tenants don’t show up; when tenants appear with legal representation, landlords win only 10% of cases.
- Through August, 28,845 evictions have been filed this year in Dallas County, an average of 119 per day, a 223% increase over the same period in 2021 and a 203% increase over the same period in 2020.
An Underutilized Housing Affordability Tool: Homestead Exemptions
CPAL examines homestead exemption access in Dallas County — who’s claiming, who isn’t, and how much money eligible homeowners could realize if they claimed this...
- ~57K residential properties in Dallas County may be eligible for the homestead exemption but have not yet claimed it, for an estimated total benefit of ~$310M.
- ~40K properties in low-income and very low-income census tracts in Dallas County may be eligible for the homestead exemption but have not yet claimed it, for an estimated total benefit of ~$200M, or ~$5,000 per household.
- While an estimated 95% of eligible households in high-income census tracts claim their homestead exemption, only 81% of households in very low-income census tracts claim their homestead exemption.