Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

William Brewer of the firm representing apartment owners

Farmers Branch officials met with apartment managers Wednesday to lay out the city's expectations of them under the new ordinance banning apartments from renting to illegal immigrants.

But there are still as many questions as answers, some apartment officials say.

That's because the city still doesn't know how it will enforce the ordinance when it takes effect Jan. 12, City Attorney Matthew Boyle said.

"The exact means and methods of enforcement of the ordinance have not been predetermined," Mr. Boyle said. "You're talking about enforcing an ordinance that hasn't gone into effect yet. ... You're wanting to know exactly how it's going to work, and it's not even in effect yet."

With the implementation of the ordinance approaching, apartment officials are eager to learn what the city expects of them.

"They did give us photocopies of examples of documents you can use to verify citizenship. In that regard, there was a little bit more information shared," said Kathy Carlton, director of government affairs for the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas. "But I think what we all found amazing is the city really doesn't have a plan yet for how they're going to implement this out in the field."

The ordinance, adopted in November, requires apartment management to obtain proof that each tenant is a U.S. citizen or in the country legally before leasing or renewing a lease.

Three lawsuits are challenging that ordinance, and protesters have submitted petitions that will require the city on Monday to either repeal the ordinance or put it to a vote in May.

Unless a court issues an injunction sought by the three lawsuits, the ordinance could still go into effect next week even if the City Council resolves to let voters decide.

William A. Brewer III, partner in the Bickel & Brewer Storefront, which is representing three apartment complexes that have sued the city, said representatives of the law firm who attended Wednesday's meeting were frustrated. He said they got no answers on whether the city would check files when it conducts its annual apartment inspections or about how the ordinance would be enforced.

"It sounded a little like spin control with too short a dash of real substance," Mr. Brewer said. "It's difficult to imagine how the city officials thought today's presentation was going to assuage anybody's fears or concerns."

When asked about inspecting the files, city building official Jim Olk said he didn't know.

"We have got multiple tools we can use to assure or obtain compliance," he said. "Until we come across a problem, we don't know which tool we're going to use."

Mr. Olk compared the ordinance to the city's requirement that apartments provide hot water to tenants. The city doesn't go into every apartment to make sure apartment managers are doing that, he said, but if a complaint comes in that an apartment won't fix a water heater, the city will investigate.

"We may run on a complaint basis," though the ordinance authorizes the city to audit apartment files, Mr. Olk said.

He also said that every apartment complex is required this month to renew its license to operate. As part of that process, managers must sign a statement acknowledging that they are aware of the new requirements and that they will comply with them.

"We may accept this statement on the license that they're complying with the ordinance until such time as there's reason to believe otherwise," Mr. Olk said.

Ms. Carlton called Mr. Olk's comments "strange."

"What that tells me is they're not really going to enforce that, and it's only going to be complaint-driven," she said.

City Council member Tim O'Hare, the driving force behind the anti-illegal immigrant ordinance and a companion policy that made English the city's official language, said he and the rest of the City Council have not been briefed on how the city plans to enforce the ordinance.

"We trust the city staff to come up with a program for enforcement that will accomplish our objective, and if the program that they come up with does not accomplish our objectives, then we will send them back to the drawing board," Mr. O'Hare said.

It's reasonable to expect the enforcement plan is one that will be tweaked as time goes by, he said.

"If they tell me that what we're going to do is assume everyone is in compliance, I'm going to say I don't think that's an effective way to enforce these measures and we need to be more proactive," Mr. O'Hare said. "But I don't know that's what they're going to tell us."

Some apartment officials have questioned how they are to obtain proof of citizenship or residency status when the lease is held by a business that allows visiting clients or employees to use the apartment.

"I don't know how to answer that yet," Mr. Olk said.

Mr. Boyle said the city would be reasonable in enforcing the ordinance and would work with apartment managers to obtain compliance.

Copies of the documents proving citizenship or residency status must be kept on file for two years. Failure can result in fines of up to $500 per day.

But that will be a last resort, Mr. Boyle said.

"We want compliance. We don't want to penalize anybody," he said. "The city has every intention of being reasonable in application and enforcement of the ordinance."

E-mail ssandoval@dallasnews.com