Garland Code Compliance Officer Ignores Violations of His Neighbors As Well As His Own

In May of 2017, I was unfairly targeted by an employee with the City of Garland, Code Compliance Department. I say "employee" because said employee was not licensed as a Code Compliance Officer with the Texas Department of Health. (Note: Code Compliance Officers were regulated by the Department of Health Services at that time. Regulation of Code Compliance departments was transferred to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in September of 2017.)

The now-Officer's name is Dawood Haq, also known as "Sal" Haq. Mr. Haq parked his pickup truck next to my 8ft privacy fence and proceeded to stand on the side of the truck bed to look over the top of the fence and take pictures of the back yard. The 8ft fence effectively blocked any angle where the yard could be seen from a standpoint of public view.

This article is not about the events that took place with my property rather, it is about the unethical practices of code compliance officer Dawood Haq. More specifically, how Mr. Haq does not abide by the Code of Ordinances with his own home that is located in the City of Garland and overlooks multiple violations committed by one of his neighbors, located just three houses away.
Several of those violations are listed below.

The violations were identified by using Google maps of the residential area that is published to the public online and therefore a matter of public information. No privacy rights have been violated with the collection of the information contained in this article.

The photo shown below is a screenshot obtained by Google Maps


Image by Google Maps
Multiple code violations of Inspector Haq's property
and immediate neighbors.


Image by Google Maps
View from public alley of neighbor of Code
Inspector Dawood Haq.


Image by Google Maps 2018
Public view of Garland Code Compliance Officer
Dawood Haq. Several visible Improper Storage violations.

The following is a list of violations by definition listed under the Charter and Code of Ordinances For the City of Garland located within the County of Dallas in the State of Texas.

Filth shall mean any matter in a putrescent state.

Improper storage shall mean the outdoor storage, for a period greater than 24 hours, in a residential district, as defined by the zoning ordinance, of articles and material subject to deterioration by the elements, including but not limited to furniture and appliances other than those customarily installed or used out-of-doors, boxes, vehicle parts, and paper; any material which is stored in a disorderly manner or in such a manner as to offer harborage to vermin; any cut wood, firewood, lumber, or other building material, except masonry, which is not stored a minimum of six inches above the ground.

Impure or unwholesome matter shall mean any putrescible or nonputrescible condition, object or matter which tends, may or could produce injury, death or disease to human beings.

Nuisance shall include stagnant or unwholesome water, sinks, privies, filth, carrion, weeds, rubbish, brush and refuse, impure or unwholesome matter of any kind, sewage exposed to the atmosphere, objectionable, unsightly or unsanitary matter of whatever nature, litter as defined elsewhere in this Code, harborage for rodents or parasitic insects, open wells, abandoned refrigerators, animal pen or enclosures which have become offensive, improper storage, graffiti, encroachment, substandard premises, junk motor vehicles, junked boats, junked off-road motorcycles or junked all terrain vehicles, poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac (within 50 feet of an occupied dwelling,) and potable water nuisances.

Objectionable, unsightly or unsanitary matter shall mean any matter, condition or object which is objectionable, unsightly or unsanitary to a person of ordinary sensitivity.

Refuse shall mean any homogeneous or heterogeneous accumulation of worn out, used up, broken, rejected or worthless materials.

Rubbish shall mean trash, debris, rubble, stone, fragments of building materials, mounds of dirt or rock and any other material.

Residents of the City of Garland are very familiar with the practices of city employees. I can personally speak about how stacked the odds are against residents for fighting back against unethical city employees. Code Compliance ignores State regulations regarding city employee conduct. They know they will not be held accountable because the Garland Municipal Court will back their actions knowing a resident is unlikely to invest thousands of dollars in pursuing a suit against the City. Without a pending lawsuit against the City, it is pointless to file an ethics and conduct complaint with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations. There is no motivation for the TDLR to hold the City accountable when they are not under investigation by the Texas Attorney General. It is easiest to just brush resident complaints aside while maintaining the attitude you would expect when facing the Mafia... 'Yeah? Well what are you gonna do about it?'

Residents who can't afford the time or money to defend themselves legally are left with only one effective tool to fight back against being wronged..... Tell the public all about it on the Internet because it is protected as free speech under the First Amendment.

City of Garland Code Enforcement Department Allows Employees to Work as Officers Without Being Licensed

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) is the government entity that oversees and regulates all municipal Code Enforcement conducted within the State of Texas.
In order for a person to legally conduct code enforcement activities, the law states that an individual to hold a Code Compliance Officer license or hold a Code Compliance Officer In Training certificate. All Code Compliance Officers In Training must be physically supervised by a departments designated, licensed Code Compliance Officer. The rules are clear... A license is required in order for an individual to legally conduct Code Enforcement in Texas... Period.

The City of Garland has ignored that rule and allows employees to act and work as code enforcement officers. Dawood Haq is one individual who was allowed to work without holding a license or a officer in training certificate. He issued citations to homeowners and the department management was behind him.
When a resident complained to Code Compliance Director, Steve Killen, he sent an email to Haq's supervisor, Oswaldo Rodruigez, to see if the complaint was valid. The supervisor checked with the state and was told that Haq was not licensed. The email sent by Rodruigez stated that TDLR informed him that Haq had taken the exam to become licensed in April of that year (2017) but, the state was behind with processing the licenses.
The department heads were covering for Haq not being licensed when he issued the first citation to the resident in June, 2017. This cover-up only covered for Haq for that time period from April 2017 until the license was officially issued on July 28th, 2017.

Copy of list of licensed code enforcement officers as of 7-4-2017

Dawood Haq is not on the list

The problem was the department didn't realize that they needed to go back longer to cover for Haq conducting code enforcement without a license. How long had Haq been working without a license? In a sworn affidavit to establish probable cause to request a search and abatement warrant, Haq stated that he had been working in his current job for the past two and a half years. He must have meant, months since the date of the affidavit was July 6, 2017.  No, that wasn't the case.

By his own, sworn admission, Dawood Haq AKA Sal Haq had been working and conducting code enforcement for the City of Garland without holding a license, for two and a half years. Haq is only to blame to a certain point. The bulk of the blame for Haq working without a license goes to the management and the director of the City of Garland Code Compliance department, Steve Killen.

With it being proven that Garland's code compliance department operates illegally and unethically, there is another part of Garland's government that is directly involved with code enforcement's activities and that is the municipal court. They collect the fines for the citations and abatements and they prosecute offenders for the city.
The municipal court and the city attorney's office works hand in hand with code compliance and all of them work together against the residents of Garland. The court allows code compliance to operate above the law.

I will provide additional evidence in a future post that focuses on the role Garland's municipal court plays with the code compliance department and their willful and intentional disregard for following the laws that they are supposed to be following. It is absolutely disgusting how blatant the level of wrongdoing that goes on every day in Garland. More to come soon.

Citizen Complaint Filed with TDLR Against City of Garland Code Compliance Officers and Management - Evidence of Misconduct, Wrongdoing, 4th Amendment and Ethics Violations

The City of Garland Code Compliance officers are required to be licensed in order to conduct code enforcement. According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations, the department that regulates code compliance licensing, for a person to conduct code enforcement, they must hold a valid Code Compliance Officer or Officer In-Training certificate. No exceptions.
That requirement is just one of many that the Garland Code Compliance department knowingly and willingly ignores. They do so knowing that they will not be held accountable.

They enforce  municipal code but, they do not abide by the rules and laws by the State of Texas that are in place for their professional conduct and ethics. In other words, Garland Code Compliance personnel conducts their business unethically as well as illegally. They violate the rights of residents in Garland by conducting inspections that are not allowed unless there was a complaint filed. When the resident whose rights to privacy are violated by the officer standing on the back of their truck to look over an 8ft privacy fence, submits a request to see a copy of the complaint, the code compliance department fabricates a complaint while claiming the resident does not have the legal right to know the identity of the complainant...even if the matter goes to court.  They have no problem with illegally making a false complaint when they have the legal support of the municipal court to cover their wrongdoing.

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City of Garland Code Compliance V. Garland Homeowner Set For Trial By Jury on January 8, 2018.... Maybe

Photo taken on Dec. 6, 2017
Garland Code Compliance w/ Officer Sal Haq
Haq stopped in front of my house and returned on Dec. 7, 2017.
Trial upcoming so, Haq increasing his attention to my house.

I appeared in court this morning to begin the trial for the seven citations issued against me by the City of Garland Department of Code Compliance. Based off of previous experience with the court, I was expecting to talk to the prosecutor about a new plea deal they offer every time I have appeared and then wait until the judge calls me to the bench to inform me that they are overbooked today and they need to reset my trial date.

To my surprise, that didn't happen... Sort of.

The prosecutor in court today was a new one to me. His name eludes my memory but, he offered to dismiss two citations and reduce the fines for the remaining five. I told him that the offer was much worse than last time I was in court. He replied with a comment that I really wasn't even listening to and I declined the offer. He said they were ready to proceed to trial and I told him that I was as well. He told me to wait to talk to the judge and that was it with him.

While waiting for the judge to appear, I noticed the courtroom only had one other person waiting and I began to wonder if the trial would actually happen today. Garland prosecutors are known for delaying cases until they can't be bumped any further and right before the trial is about to begin.... The prosecutor will dismiss the case and avoid having to spend the time hearing the case.

The judge called the other person up and they agreed to a plea deal. That left me as the only remaining case.

Garland Code Compliance Continue Cover Up Efforts for Wrongdoing, Misconduct and Dishonesty With Court Case

I have 7 code compliance citations that I am fighting and am currently waiting for my case to be heard with a trial by jury. It is scheduled for December 4th, 2017 but, the City of Garland is known for delaying trial dates as long as they can. The court sets a trial date and when that day arrives, the judge calls the defendants up to the bench and explains that they are overbooked that day and there is no way they will be able to get to their case that day. The court resets the trial for another day.
The new date arrives and the judge repeats the process. Garland courts are known for doing this to people. The court repeats this delay tactic until your case can't be delayed further due to it being on the top of the courts docket that day.
People think, "Finally! I get my day in court!"

Garland Municipal Court Ignores Rules With Pro Se Defendant In Code Compliance Case

View of alley where the Garland code inspector parked his
truck and stood on the side of the truck bed to look over
the 8ft privacy fence.  

On October 5th, I went to court for another pretrial hearing regarding seven citations issued by the City of Garland Code Compliance.
I had filed a motion for Discovery in September. I thought that once the prosecutor got a look at all the misconduct and fraud committed by code inspector, Dawood Haq, they would simply dismiss the tickets rather than let it go to trial and have his conduct become public record. No such luck.

The Garland, Texas municipal court has a very effective system that maximizes their incoming revenue. Here is how it works when someone is issued a citation...

The defendant appears in court and meets briefly with the prosecutor. The defendant can plead guilty and pay the fine or they can plead not guilty and request a trial by judge or jury.
In my case, I requested a trial by jury.

Did Garland Code Compliance Officer and Inspector Execute A Phony Search Warrant?

Two signs made by homeowner and placed in yard surrounded by 8 foot
privacy fence. Code Compliance inspector saw signs and  executed
a phony search warrant.

What is the difference between a "phony search warrant" and an "illegal search warrant?"

An illegal search warrant is a document that was obtained in a legal manner and obtained from a judge. However, some aspect of it is determined to have not met the legal requirements needed to support itself in court when challenged. That is probably a crude definition. Here is an example:
A code enforcement officer who is the designated official from their department, submits a sworn affidavit to support a search warrant to the local judge or magistrate. The purpose of the affidavit is to give the judge probable cause and if the judge agrees, they sign the warrant and it can then be executed. If the warrant is challenged on the probable cause not being sufficient and holds up in court after the warrant was executed, then the warrant is deemed to be an illegal warrant.