On the Verge of Eviction, a Dallas Family Gets Angry to Save Their Long-Time Home

On a quaint street in Southeast Dallas, the Mendoza family lies through restless night after restless night, waiting for the booming knocks of a Dallas County constable issuing a 24-hour warning to pack their things and get out of the only home they’ve known since 1998. The Mendozas have been living a waking nightmare since May, when they discovered their home had been allegedly stolen in a case of deed fraud, which they say was perpetrated by the patriarch’s son, Martin Mendoza Jr., from a prior relationship.  

For months, the Mendozas, led by their adult son, Cristo Mendoza, have been able to stay in their home while they endure pending litigation in a civil trial against Martin Mendoza Jr., or Junior, a real estate company that initially accepted the first deed transfer, Duke Real Estate & Asset Management and a foreign LLC now listed as the legal owner of the home, Konikoff Connection. According to the Mendozas, Junior is a career criminal who’s currently a parolee looking for an address to use.

In September, the family filed criminal charges against Junior with the county sheriff’s office. In October, the family’s lawyer filed a temporary injunction, which delayed a formal eviction until the end of the trial and secured a roof over their heads until their next court date in June 2026, when the legal proceedings are expected to resume.  

However, the delay offers little comfort to the Mendozas, who have abandoned their prior passivity. Previously, they had hoped for a peaceful return to their home through an expedited legal process, believing they would obtain it easily. But now, the Mendozas feel they’re being accused of being accomplices to the crime, and they’re upset.

“They’re accusing [my father] of signing this paperwork,” Cristo said. “He’s calling [the courts] stupid. How is he going to give his house away for nothing? A house where he lives, where he has all his stuff, it just doesn’t make sense.” 

Duke Real Estate & Asset Management still claims innocence. A witness for Konikoff Connection at the last hearing stated that the company intended to spend a few weeks revamping the house to be rented for $1,500 per month, according to Cristo.

To file a temporary injunction, the filer must post a bond as collateral to the defendant for any damages incurred, in the event the court finds that the injunction was granted wrongfully. The Mendozas had to pay $10,000, which is a lot of money for anyone, but it’s really a lot when you’ve already got thousands more in legal fees to pay.  

“My dad feels like he’s being accused of this, and now my dad has to prove that he didn’t sign this paperwork,” Cristo said, talking about the initial deed that transferred the property. “It’s costing him time and money.”

The temporary injunction was a breaking point for the family. 

“[My father] used to say, ‘I just want the house back. That’s it. They can keep their money,'” Cristo said. “But now he’s saying he wants to take them for everything.”

A complication in the legal process has been Junior’s disappearance. For months, Cristo’s stepbrother, who was in and out of the Mendoza’s home, prison and on various couches for Cristo’s entire life, was missing in action. The family assumed, with a big check from the house sale, he might never re-emerge, but Junior’s mother, who lives in Fort Worth, says her son appeared at her door, asking to use her address for his parole officer, even though he’s reportedly living somewhere in Irving. According to Cristo, process servers were unable to locate Junior at his last known residence to serve him.

The Mendoza family still has not had direct contact with Junior. The Observer has attempted to contact Junior using the last available phone number several times, but has not received a response. 

Josh Duke, owner and operator of Duke Realty & Asset Management, contacted the Observer after our initial article on the Mendoza case was published in September. At that time, he asserted his company’s innocence and claimed he should be considered one of the victims of the fraud. According to deeds provided to the Observer and property records, the title for the home was transferred to Junior in December 2024, then to Duke’s realty company, and finally to Konikoff Connection in May. Duke says he flips about 100 properties a year, and usually only owns them for a couple of days before transferring the deed to a third party.

“All of us are going to potentially pay the consequences for this one person who actually committed, allegedly, that fraud,” Duke said. “The courts will decide that, but if that’s true, then I got scammed, and then the other buyer that I sold it to also got scammed. One of us is going to pay the consequence of that.”

Cristo is furious. Martin Sr. is furious. They still find it hard to believe any of this is happening, and worse, that it isn’t ending anytime soon.  

“With the type of money he had to pull out of his bank account, he hasn’t been himself for a while,” Cristo said about the changing perspective of his father. “He’s angry.”