The cameras, mounted on city trash trucks, identified more than 20,000 potential code violations in recent months. From April through mid-September, the Code Compliance Department said it sent about 3,700 notices asking homeowners to correct problems voluntarily. After inspectors reviewed potential violations, the city opened 300 enforcement cases and issued more than 80 citations involving about 50 properties.

The city says human inspectors confirm violations. But Dallas’ Dallas Tomorrow Fund, which was created to help eligible homeowners pay for exterior repairs needed to meet code, has not awarded grants since 2024. The Housing Department said the program was paused during a departmental reorganization and that officials are reviewing how it could be administered in the future.

The fund receives $36 from every paid code citation. When grants were available, qualifying homeowners could receive up to $20,000. The program helped about 20 to 30 families a year, the city said, based on referrals from code compliance officers. The Housing Department did not provide the fund’s current balance, saying the information would require an open-records request.

One cited property belongs to the mother of Daniel Davila, who grew up in the family’s Oak Cliff home. Davila said the family replaced the main house’s roof but could not afford more work on other structures on the property after his father died. Inspectors cited the property over concerns about surfaces and building materials after a camera-equipped truck passed through the neighborhood.

“It hurts me to see it that way,” Davila said of the home. “It’s painful.”

The family expects the citations to be dismissed after Dallas’ real estate division agreed to buy the property. The city has been acquiring nearby lots in Cadillac Heights for a maintenance facility, and Davila said relatives who live across the street are also selling their homes to Dallas.

City Council member Chad West said expanding automated detection without a clear plan to help low-income residents pay for repairs is concerning. He supports using technology to make code enforcement more efficient but said assistance and outreach should grow alongside it. West also questioned whether Dallas is addressing violations on city-owned property, including vacant homes and sites with dumped debris near the Davila family’s home.

“If we’re going to go out and aggressively start to roll this program out, we need to have something in place that we can utilize to help some of these residents most in need,” West said.

A city spokesperson said property owners remain responsible for maintaining their homes and that AI-assisted detection has not changed those standards. The spokesperson said the Housing and Code Compliance departments are reviewing how to administer the Tomorrow Fund. Other city repair programs exist, but none specifically target code violations, and some accept applications only during limited periods.

West requested a City Council hearing for Monday to discuss the cameras and their effects. He said the city should reconsider the program if it cannot provide enough resources to help residents comply, and urged Dallas to hold its own properties to the same standards.