Story by Jake Reynolds. SMU.

Gainesville landlord Kelli Perrin is battling a moral dilemma, one that many mom-and-pop landlords have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m losing a few hundred dollars a month,” Perrin said.

Her tenant, 67-year-old Patricia Williamson, is four months behind on rent, has no family and no other place to call home.

“She’s older and has nowhere else to go,” Perrin said. “I don’t want to evict her.”

Story by Andrea Valdez, Amethyst Barrett, Corey Vallien and Tristin Meza. UNT Spring 2023.

Derek Avery is a Real Estate Developer based out of South Dallas. He is the Chief Executive Officer of COIR Development and has been involved in the real estate world for 17 years.

“I’m originally from the Third Ward in Houston, and I always tell people I got dressed for prom while living in a Motel 6.” Derek said. “We were always housing insecure, we moved because every year no matter where we went they went up on rent.”

Story by Asia Alcorn, Mason Jendel and Armando Barry. University of North Texas. Fall 2022.

You’ve just been evicted. You have no place to stay, no transportation, no money, and your credit score is plummeting drastically.

With your circumstances, there’s little to no chance you’ll be approved for another apartment or anything for that matter.

Story by Giovanni Delgadillo, Katie Biggar and Elizabeth Bulot. University of North Texas. Fall 2022.

Lacee Howard squeezed her eyes shut and pressed the tears that had formed behind her mascara. At 20, she still remembers the time she and her family were first evicted. She was 14 and when she arrived home from school she saw a yellow piece of paper plastered on the front door of her home.