Dallas, TX
Dallas condo owners live for a year with no walls — just a tarp
Two neighboring Dallas residents are living without walls.
That’s not hyperbole. The exterior walls of their condos have been removed and replaced with a large tarp. It’s been like that for a year.
No walls, only a tarp.
The homeowners association ordered the wall removal, citing mold and other problems. But the units also suffer from serious foundation issues.
Residents say they’ve endured this open-air existence because they believe they have no choice.
Where are they going to go? Who will buy their money pits with all these problems?
Carol Sullivan considers herself the fortunate one — at least she still has her interior walls. Her neighbor, Kate Phelan, isn’t so lucky. She’s missing both exterior and interior walls.
Both women blame the HOA, which authorized the wall removal and promised to rebuild. They say that promise has since vanished.
HOA Follies
In today’s episode of The Watchdog Presents HOA Follies, we go to the Lake Highlands neighborhood of Dallas — specifically to the 72-unit Oak Hollow Condominiums off Skillman Street.
The competition to be spotlighted on HOA Follies is fierce. The battles are constant, and that includes fighting outside management companies hired to run things.
In these squabbles, lies are told, stories are made up and the mantra that there are two sides to everything is proven false. In HOA disputes, there are often eight sides to every saga.
I cannot tell you the HOA side because the management group, Veracity of Plano, declined to speak to me. Veracity also declined to allow me to speak to HOA board members.
The word veracity, by the way, is defined as a devotion to the truth.
‘Terrified’
Sullivan says one holdup is the condo bosses demanding that doors and windows be removed during repairs.
“I’m terrified,” Sullivan says, fearing that once they are removed, they too won’t get put back.
Phelan describes constant dirt filtering in — weeds, grass and bugs. She’ll clean a room, then five minutes later, it’s all back. Especially the bugs.
“It’s like National Geographic in there,” she says.
How does she deal with it? Sometimes, she explodes.
In a draft she sent to Google reviews, she called the condo bosses “evil, sadistic, harassing, bullying, delusional, incompetent.”
“I don’t know what else to do, Phelan said.
Mold
Both women complain of sickness that they attribute to mold.
Health-wise, they shouldn’t be living there.
Phelan says her insurance company told her the responsibility is with the HOA. Her insurance will not fix interior issues until the outer walls are replaced.
Under Texas law, an HOA is responsible for the exterior common areas, while a condo owner is responsible for the inside.
Because the association removed the entire rear wall, they may be responsible for the follow-through, Phelan argues.
Solutions
What do you do in a situation like this?
Unfortunately, get a lawyer. Both women have hired a lawyer to help them. Several other owners have jumped in.
Phelan admits she was out of her league when house shopping. She didn’t know what to look for. She felt rushed. She saw problems before buying but didn’t think they were this bad. She paid $143,000.
Both women still pay $475 in monthly maintenance fees.
They neglected to file a formal complaint with Dallas’ code compliance department. An inspector might come out and write up violations.
Under city code for substandard structures, property owners are required to keep structures in good repair. Violations can be written for peeling paint, leaking roof, electrical and plumbing problems, holes in the wall, floor and ceiling, and decayed wood.
In some HOA’s, residents vote out existing members, and then fire the management company. I’ve seen it happen, but it’s rare.
Mostly, what’s needed is for condo bosses to live up to their promises. They need to display a devotion to the truth.
Without walls, condo owners use cardboard to provide safety from the elements.
Courtesy of Kate Phelan
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
Dallas, TX
Akheem Mesidor selected by Cowboys by Blogging The Boys in SB Nation’s community mock draft
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami
Pass rush has been an issue since the Micah Parsons trade. The Rashan Gary trade helped, but Dallas still needs an injection of talent. Akheem Mesidor fits here because his body size allows for some versatility inside and out, something DC Christian Parker utilizes. Mesidor is also a high-motor player with a deep bag of pass rush moves.
His last season at Miami was full of disruption in the offensive backfield and he shows an all-around game, not just a bend-around-the-edge pass rusher. Yes, he’s a little older than you’d like in a rookie (25), but his motor, pass rush toolbox, and ability to play the run matches up with a need and makes him a quality pick at number 20.
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