When landlords allow their apartments to fester in disrepair, the brutal speed of evictions in Texas and piecemeal relief available for individual tenants makes it difficult to advocate for community-wide solutions. This presentation will explore aggressive, plaintiff-side litigation as a tool for maintaining habitable low-income housing. It will outline the litigation model we are currently building, which focuses on maximizing pressure and injunctive relief to force landlords into repairing substandard conditions. Utilizing tools such as the DTPA, the Fair Housing Act, and more creative causes of action such as civil RICO suits, this model aims to take landlords out of JP court and force them to the table. The presentation will cover our planned approach and ongoing mass habitability cases.
