East Dallas Family Faces Eviction, Presses Charges Against Son for Allegedly Stealing Home

Earlier this month, we reported on the story of the Mendoza family, a hardworking family living in East Dallas, who were on the verge of losing their home due to an alleged deed fraud perpetrated by the patriarch’s son from a prior relationship. At the time the story ran, the Mendoza family had lost their eviction case in court and were still navigating the complex legal process, learning as they went. 

They’re still learning. And they’re still facing eviction. However, they have formally pressed charges against Martin Mendoza Jr., also known as Junior, with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, the law enforcement agency responsible for managing deed fraud crimes within city limits.

Things have not gotten better for the Mendoza family. 

Cristo Mendoza, the son of Martin Mendoza Sr., who first purchased the home in 1998, and half-brother of Junior, the alleged fraudster, has been doing his best to get his family through this tumultuous time. But it hasn’t been easy, and it’s far from over. In the wake of mounting anxiety, Cristo has been prescribed two anti-anxiety medications, one specifically for emergency situations. 

“If I were having a panic attack, I wouldn’t know what it was,” he said. “Before going into the court buildings to meet with the sheriff, I had to sit in the car for a bit just to calm down. That’s how it’s been, I haven’t had that in a while.”

Pressing Charges

On Thursday, the Mendoza family will appear in court again, this time to appeal their eviction. They’re hopeful that the judge will side with them this time, but if not, their lawyer will file a restraining order. It’s plan B, but it may offer them a little more time in their home. 

“Before I would meet with the attorney on my own,” Cristo said. “But yesterday, I went with my sister just to have more people there. I guess I feel better with more people there. But everyone’s on edge now, especially with Thursday coming up so soon.”

Cristo and his father officially filed charges on Sept. 18 and received an official incident report, which lists Junior as the primary suspect, on Sept. 24. Cristo hopes that with charges filed, an appellate judge may be more flexible than the prior judge. However, filing charges wasn’t easy, and it took more than one trip to the sheriff’s office in the Frank Crowley Courts Building, which he described as a labyrinth. 

“[My dad] always wanted to press charges,” Cristo said. “It’s just that where would he… Where would we go? I guess if I did it for him, he was okay with that.” 

But Cristo couldn’t press charges on his father’s behalf. So the two men had to return to the sheriff’s department downtown together.  

“There was never hesitation because we don’t want to get my brother in trouble or anything like that,” he said. “He’s already in trouble. That was our logic. He’s already in a lot of trouble, so I don’t think we would add to it.”

Resistance and Denial

One of the hurdles for Cristo, aside from the complexity of the legal system and deciphering jurisdictional responsibilities divided by the sheriff’s department and the police department, has been his father’s denial. 

Cristo has a stack of papers that he tries to keep in order. It has the original eviction notice, copies of the deed, sheriff reports and a myriad of other documents. But the pile grows, and much of it needs his father’s signature. Getting his father to meet with the attorney and visit the sheriff’s station has proven difficult. 

“He says it’s fine,” he said. “I guess that’s his way of coping with it. It makes it more frustrating for us.” 

However, there are other issues that are also prolonging the process. 

The family still hasn’t heard from Junior and doesn’t know where he’s living. It’s hard to serve someone when you don’t know where they are. Junior has previously lived with his mother, who also lives in North Texas, but she says she hasn’t heard from him either. 

“I don’t know if she’s lying or not, but I don’t think so,” Cristo said. 

How We Got Here

In March, a pair of strangers knocked on the door of the Mendoza home, insisting they had just purchased the small home in East Dallas. But the home had never been listed for sale. The strangers left the home and called their title company. The Mendoza family figured it was a one-off, but then it happened again in May, and this time the new buyers were far less understanding. 

Immediately, the family assumed they were caught up in a con perpetrated by Junior, who has a lengthy rap sheet featuring drug and assault charges. They didn’t realize the extent of the problem until they received an eviction notice in June. They lawyered up soon after, but lost their case in an eviction court hearing in July. 

The original lawsuit, filed in June, claims that Junior forged his father’s signature on a general warranty deed dated in December, thereby transferring the property to himself. He then attempted to transfer the property to Duke Real Estate in May, which subsequently transferred the property via another general warranty deed to a private company called Konikoff Connection, which remains listed as the property’s owner. 

Even with mounting legal fees and an uncertain future, the Mendozas are keeping their head above water. They’re not too worried about themselves, but they want to make sure this doesn’t happen to another person, especially if Junior remains unpunished. 

“If the worst happens, we have family here that will help us,” he said. “I hate the thought of this happening to someone else. That’s what gets me angry. It’s a massive problem here; everyone says that it’s a massive problem. But when I go to the Sheriff’s website, there’s nothing on who to talk to or what address to go to. There’s nothing.”

The family is still enduring the appeal process. If they are not granted an appeal on Thursday, they anticipate receiving an official timeline on when they’ll need to vacate their property. But Cristo is hopeful it doesn’t reach that point, but he admits the light at the end of the tunnel is growing dimmer. 

“My sister seems to have confidence in [our lawyer],” he said. “I told the attorney I’m losing confidence here in [him] and the courts and everything.”