The cycle of poverty in southern Dallas almost always is accompanied by a steady degradation of real estate in the neighborhoods where poor residences are concentrated. The two situations feed off each other. As poverty deepens, homeowners on tight budgets give tax payments and property maintenance a lower priority.

Eventually, City Hall intervenes by sending in code enforcers and maintenance crews. With each visit, a bill or fine gets sent to the property owner. Unpaid tax bills mount. At a certain point, foreclosure time arrives.

Hundreds of such empty lots and degraded houses litter southern Dallas, posing a burden for City Hall and a significant drag on neighboring property values. So it’s in everyone’s best interests to return this real estate to productive use.

That’s why state law requires City Hall to periodically place foreclosed houses and lots on the auction block. On Wednesday, the City Council reacted with surprise and anger when results were announced for 140 properties sold at auction. The sale netted less than $1 million.

All but seven of the properties are in southern Dallas. One property sold for less than 1 cent on the dollar, and 70 sold for less than a fifth of their listed value.

All too often, these properties fall into the hands of speculators whose only motive is to let them sit for years in hopes that they’ll appreciate in value. Vacant lots become magnets for bulk-trash dumpers. Empty homes fall easy prey to vandals and drug addicts. There’s always the risk that slumlords will buy the dilapidated old houses, spend the minimum amount to avoid code violations, then rent them out, albeit in still-shoddy condition.

The net effect is that these properties continue to drag down their neighborhoods. And while the city might have unloaded the property to private hands, chances are that it still will have to cover ongoing costs for code enforcement and police visits.

No wonder several southern Dallas City Council members registered their extreme displeasure when the auction announcement was made at Wednesday’s council meeting.

State law leaves the city minimal wiggle room on how to dispose of foreclosed land. But city staffers can do a better job of managing the land bank inventory and finding ways to dispose of real estate before auction time arrives. Council members also deserve fair warning when large numbers of lots are up for auction in their districts.

If city staffers know that developers are interested in specific land-banked real estate, they should consider trying to bundle the desirable properties with undesirable ones as a take-it or leave-it package deal.

But dumping lots of bad property onto the market all at once is a sure-fire way to perpetuate the poverty-and-degradation cycle, not end it.

Business and community

“It’s very clear what we can do and what we can’t do. What I’m saying is, there is a much broader issue: Should we be selling the land? And how should we — after we sell that land — put the right development process in place?”

– Mayor Mike Rawlings

“We cannot just ‘Grow South’ and think [it’s all about business development]. We still have to be concerned about the inner community, and the inner community is these houses.”

– City Council member Dwaine Caraway

SEE where the 140 properties are located. dallasnews.com/opinion