You should not assume that city staff are documenting the conditions in your neighborhood, even though they may drive through your neighborhood on a regular basis. If a neighborhood condition is not logged into a city system – it doesn’t exist. Therefore, it is important to report code compliance issues as soon as possible.

Code violations can be reported by calling 311, submitting a report on the City’s website, or by submitting a report through the Dallas 311 app. Reports can be made anonymously. However, if you want to be contacted regarding the status of the investigation into your complaint, you will be required to provide contact information.

Regardless of how you report the violation, it is important that you provide as much information as possible, including photos of the violation, dates and times when the violation occurs, and information on the responsible party (especially if you know they may be difficult to identify).

The Neighborhood Code division is responsible for investigating the most common code violations that occur in neighborhoods. There are many reasons why it may take a long time for the Neighborhood Code Compliance division to resolve your code compliance complaint. Some of the most common reasons for delays include:

• The investigating department is unable to confirm the existence of the violation,
• The investigating department determines that no violation has occurred,
• The investigating department has not been able to make contact with the responsible party, or
• The investigating department has not been able to obtain voluntary compliance from the responsible party and has issued a citation and/or referred the case to the Dallas City Attorney’s office.

Neighborhood Associations can play a key role in preventing, reporting, and monitoring the status of code violations that occur within the Neighborhood Association’s boundaries, including taking the following steps:

• Encourage neighbors to report code violations to 311 or contact the responsible party directly and ask them to voluntarily resolve the violation (only if feasible and if the neighbor feels comfortable doing so).
• Designate a Neighborhood Association board member as a “Code Compliance” or “Government” liaison who communicates regularly with Neighborhood Code Compliance staff.
• Encourage neighbors to notify the Neighborhood Association about code violations that they have observed and reported so that the Neighborhood Association can assist with tracking the status of the investigation.
• Encourage residents to be “good neighbors” by publishing information about the most common code violations on the Neighborhood Association’s website and in its newsletter and social media posts.

Both the Texas Property Code and the Dallas City Code prohibit a landlord from retaliating against a tenant who submits a valid complaint regarding code violations. “Retaliation” includes raising a tenant’s rent, diminishing services to a tenant, or attempting to evict a tenant within six months after the tenant files a valid complaint.

The Dallas City Code imposes a strict definition of a “valid” complaint. The complaint must either result in:

• The City issuing a written notice or citation listing any violation of Chapter 27 (Minimum Property Standards) on property occupied by the tenant,
• The City Attorney’s office filing a civil action against the landlord for any violation of Chapter 27 on property occupied by the tenant, or
• the tenant, after filing a complaint with the director and the landlord or the landlord’s agent, files a written complaint with the city attorney complaining of a violation of Chapter 27 on property occupied by the tenant.

However, a landlord can raise several defenses to a retaliation complaint, including that the tenant was delinquent in rent when the eviction action was filed.

In Dallas, all rental properties and condominium associations are required to register with the City of Dallas and be inspected regularly (with a few exceptions). Multitenant and condominium rental properties are subject to a higher degree of regulation than single-family rental properties. Here are a few notable requirements:

• Emergency Contact – All landlords are required to provide the name, address, and telephone number of a person who can be contacted 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the event of an emergency condition on their rental property. The landlord (or an authorized agent) is required to arrive at their rental property within one hour after being notified by the City of Dallas that an emergency condition exists.
• Inspection – Multitenant properties are subject to a graded inspection at least every three years; single-family properties are subject to an inspection once every five years (this inspection is not graded). If a property scores at least 90 the first time the Code Compliance Department inspects the property, the landlord may be allowed to “self-certify” the condition of its units on subsequent inspections.
• Attendance at Crime Watch meetings – Multitenant landlords (or their property managers) are required to either host or attend at least four crime watch meetings each year and obtain a crime watch attendance certificate for each meeting attended.

If you believe that a rental property is not in compliance with local regulations, submit a service request by calling 311 or by using the Dallas 311 app.

Unfortunately, the City of Dallas does not publish a searchable database of registered single-family rental properties.

Door-to-door soliciting is allowed in Dallas. However, the City of Dallas requires some, but not all, home solicitors to obtain a certificate of registration before engaging in door-to-door solicitations.

The City of Dallas requires people who are “soliciting, selling, or taking orders for goods or services or distributing commercial printed matter” to do the following:

• apply for and obtain a certificate of registration
• wear a city-issued badge when conducting door-to-door solicitations
• allow a homeowner to inspect the badge upon request.
• Not solicit before 9am or after sunset; not solicit on Sundays or certain holidays
• Not solicit at any residence where the owner has displayed a sign in on or near the front door containing the words, “NO SOLICITORS OR HANDBILLS,” or any similar notice indicating that the occupants of the premises do not desire to be bothered, have their right of privacy disturbed, or have commercial printed matter left upon the premises.

A person is not considered a home solicitor and is not required to follow most of the regulations listed above if they are going door-to-door for a “charitable, educational, civic, patriotic, philanthropic, political, or religious purpose.” However, regardless of whether a door-to-door solicitor is distributing commercial or non-commercial material, they must comply with the City of Dallas’s anti-litter regulations, which prohibit a solicitor from leaving written materials at a home that displays a conspicuous sign stating “No Trespassing,” “No Solicitors,” or a similar message.

The Texas Election Code and the Dallas City Code regulate the placement of political campaign signs on private property. The Dallas City code also regulates the placement of political signs on public property.

Texas Election Code – The Texas Election Code significantly limits a city’s ability to regulate signs that contain “primarily a political message” and that are placed on private property with the consent of the owner. Specifically, the Election Code prohibits a city from: prohibiting these signs, requiring a permit for the sign, or regulating its size. However, if a political sign placed on private property with the consent of the owner meets any of the following criteria, the Texas Election Code allows a city to regulate the sign: (1) the sign has an effective area greater than 36 feet;(2) the sign is more than eight feet high; (3) the sign is illuminated; or (4) the sign has any moving elements.

Special Note for HOAs – This same chapter of the Election Code also limits the ways in which an HOA may regulate political signs.

Dallas City Code – In accordance with the Texas Election Code, the Dallas City Code only requires a permit for political signs that meet any of the following criteria: (1) the sign has an effective area greater than 36 feet;(2) the sign is more than eight feet high; (3) the sign is illuminated; or (4) the sign has any moving elements.

Public Property – Early Voting and Election Day Voting Locations – The City of Dallas allows some, but not all, political signs to be placed on public property that serves as an early voting location or election day voting location. Only signs that refer to a candidate or issue that is on the ballot at a particular voting location may be placed at that voting location. No political signs may be placed in the public right-of-way.

The Dallas City Code also specifies when political signs may be placed on public property and when they must be removed.

• Sign Placement – no earlier than two calendar days before commencement of early voting (at early voting locations) or two calendar days before election day (at election day voting locations).
• Sign Removal – No later than two calendar days after the last day of early voting (at early voting locations) or two calendar days after election day (at election day voting locations).

The Dallas City Code has two sets of regulations that govern noise. Chapter 30 of the Dallas City Code lists several activities that are presumed to be violations, including but not limited to:

• Playing a radio, television, or musical instrument at a high volume so as to disturb the peace, quiet, comfort, or repose of any person in a residence
• Continuous barking, howling, crowing, or making of other loud noises by an animal for more than 15 minutes near a private residence
• Loud muffler and car stereo noises
• Any construction activity related to the erection, excavation, demolition, alteration, or repair of any building on or adjacent to a residential use, as defined in the Dallas Development Code, other than between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays and legal holidays (with certain exceptions).

The Dallas Development Code also contains regulations that limit noise levels (measured in decibels) in all zoning districts, including residential neighborhoods. This section of the Development Code also limits the hours when lawn maintenance, personal vehicle repair, and home repairs may be conducted.

If a neighborhood wants on-street parking to be limited to residents only, they must follow the petition process outlined in Dallas City Code Chapter 28. Neighbors should carefully consider the pros and cons of these parking restrictions, since the restrictions will also apply to visitors of homes in the Resident Only parking zone.

Additionally, if you believe that your neighborhood would benefit from additional traffic signs, you should submit a “Traffic Sign – New” request via the 311 system. You can view a catalog of approved traffic signs in the Dallas Traffic Sign Standards Manual.

In the absence of any signs that restrict parking in a specific location, any person may park along the curb, unless the Texas Transportation Code specifically prohibits parking in the location, such as near a fire hydrant or in front of a public or private driveway. However, it is a violation of the Dallas City Code to park on a public street for a continuous period of time longer than 24 hours.

If you are concerned about speeding within your neighborhood, you should summit a traffic-speed control request through the City’s 311 system. Traffic engineers may conduct a traffic study in your neighborhood to determine if traffic calming measures are needed.

The City of Dallas places limits on the number of dogs and cats that may be kept on the premises of a home. The City doesn’t limit the number of other types of domestic animals such as birds or fish.

If you live in an apartment, condo, townhome, or any other home that shares a common wall with another dwelling unit, you are allowed to keep a combined total of 4 dogs or cats.

If you live in any other type of home, you are allowed to keep a combined total of:

• 6 dogs or cats (if you live on less that 1/2 acre), or
• 8 dogs or cats (if you live on 1/2 acre or more).

Puppies and kittens under the age of 6 months do not count towards the limit. Additionally, residents who are approved by the Director of Animal Services to provide foster care to dogs or cats are exempt from the limits.

Noise – Additionally, a pet owner is subject to citation if they own an animal that makes “unreasonable noise near a private residence.” Noise made by an animal is considered unreasonable if it continues more than 15 consecutive minutes.

In general, the City of Dallas prohibits residents from keeping exotic and wild animals such as badgers, wolves, elephants, non-human primates (other than a spider monkey or capuchin), crocodiles, alligators, venomous amphibians or reptiles, hawks, and eagles. In addition to the prohibited animals listed above, the City of Dallas also prohibits animals that are defined by the Texas Health and Safety Code as “dangerous wild animals.”

Exceptions are made for certain animal rehabilitation organizations and other licensed individuals.

Until recently, roosters were prohibited in Dallas city limits and backyard chickens were allowed in community gardens. However, in 2023, the Texas Legislature passed a law that placed significant limits on a city’s ability to regulate agricultural uses, including the raising of poultry and livestock. The Texas Legislature tasked the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension with developing a manual of “generally accepted agricultural practices.”

Currently, Dallas Animal Services notes on its website that it is lawful to keep roosters in Dallas. As of December 2024, the City of Dallas is in the process of examining which city ordinances will need to be modified to comply with state law.