Courtroom drama

Malouf case screeches to a halt as Candy Evans agrees to stay away from StraitLane compound

Richard and Leanne Malouf have filed suit to keep journalists — and their ownneighbors — off their property.

Candysdirt.com
The Maloufs are in the process of building a waterpark on their Strait Laneproperty.

Candy's Dirt

After three days of contentious testimony, the pre-trial phase of Richard and Leanne Malouf's lawsuit against real estate reporter Candy Evans has abruptly concluded. On Thursday, Evans agreed to a temporary injunction prohibiting her from entering, touching or going above the natural sight lines of the Malouf's Strait Lane property. The agreement is binding through the course of a trial, which is scheduled to begin September 16, 2013.

In October, the Maloufs filed suit against Evans, Channel 8 WFAA and Laura Wilson, their next-door neighbor. The Maloufs allege all three parties have conspired to trespass on their property; invade their privacy; and defame, libel and slander the couple. Wilson and WFAA's Byron Harris agreed to an injunction identical to Evans' on December 12.

But before everyone made nice on Thursday, there was a little matter of pretrial testimony to be had. Richard Malouf once again took the stand, resuming his testimony from December 14.

"It's hard to tell where Candy Evans stops and WFAA starts," Malouf said. "They are all conspirators in this."

The Maloufs are building a private waterpark in their backyard. Multiple media outlets have covered the progress of the park, as well as its possible connection to pending lawsuits against Richard Malouf's dental practice.

This reportage, Malouf maintains, violated his family's right to privacy and resulted in numerous death threats via blog comments on Candysdirt.com and WFAA.com. None of the comments were referenced specifically during Thursday's hearing.

Malouf testified that he has seen Evans on his property only one time, in April 2011 at his daughter's birthday party. During testimony last week, Evans denied attending the party, which had approximately 300 guests. Malouf said he believes Evans "or one of her affiliates" has entered his property at least five times.

"It's hard to tell where she stops and WFAA starts," Malouf said. "They are all conspirators in this."

The two-and-a-half-hour hearing included numerous backdoor meetings and discussions, the last of which resulted in a signed temporary injunction against Evans. But not before Evans attorney James Bell passionately cross-examined Malouf about the truth of his case.

"Do you understand that you have to come into this courtroom with clean hands?" Bell said, adding, "Do you understand that in order to ask the Honorable Judge Sally Montgomery for any kind of injunctive relief, you couldn't have done anything wrong yourself?"

Malouf said that to the best his information and belief, everything in his petition was accurate.

"Maybe everyone has overstated some things," the judge said before calling the implication "close enough" and a logical conclusion. "Let's move on."

Pointing to a section concerning alleged collusion between Evans and Laura Wilson, Bell said "This is a false petition, your honor."

Malouf testified that he has never seen Evans and Wilson together, nor does he know if they've ever met, but the direction of the photos implied Wilson's involvement.

"Maybe everyone has overstated some things," Judge Montgomery said before calling the implication "close enough" and a logical conclusion. "Let's move on."

Bell switched gears to a camera allegedly found in Leanne Malouf's closet. Richard Malouf said he believes that Evans was involved in its placement.

"She conspired with a former house manager, and magically after he was let go, a plethora of private information came out that couldn't have been obtained any other way," Malouf said.

Bell asked Malouf what evidence he had that Evans was in any way involved with placing a camera in his wife's closet.

"I haven no evidence, but I believe it," Malouf said.

The trial against Evans, Wilson and WFAA for trespassing, invasion of privacy and defamation is slated to begin September 16, 2013.

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homebuyer power play

Dallas declared one of the top 10 buyer's markets in the U.S. right now

joe daniel price/Getty Images

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The tide has turned for the Dallas housing market, and buyers now have more power than ever to negotiate on their forever home, a new real estate report has confirmed.

Dallas has now become one of the top 10 strongest buyer's markets in the nation with sellers outnumbering buyers by 107 percent, Redfin's newest market trends report found.

Nationally, sellers outnumbered buyers by 58 percent in August 2026, which Redfin says is the largest gap on record. Out of the 49 most populous metros in the U.S., only five are considered seller's markets, and eight are considered "balanced" markets where the number of buyers and sellers are nearly equal.

That leaves the remaining 36 most populated U.S. metros as buyer's markets, which includes the biggest cities in the Lone Star State. In fact, four Texas cities rank among the 10 strongest buyer's markets in the country right now: Houston (No. 3), San Antonio (No. 6), Austin (No. 7), and Dallas (No. 8).

There were 30,854 sellers on the market in Dallas last month, more than double the amount of buyers (14,865). The market's tilt in favor of house hunters allows more legroom to be picky with the increased supply of available housing, while falling demand indicates less competition with other buyers.

"In most markets, buyers should negotiate on price and ask for concessions like repairs or help with closing costs," said Redfin senior economist Asad Khan. "Buyers shouldn’t assume every seller will budge, especially on a desirable home that’s already priced well, but they don’t need to rush into a deal that doesn’t feel right."

For sellers that want to stand out in a saturated market, Redfin suggests they should price their homes competitively and be prepared to negotiate.

A separate Redfin report found mid-September is the best time for Dallasites to buy a home, but other experts say hesitant shoppers have until early October to take the plunge.

Regardless of the timeline, the report warns that the recent surge of available housing is only beneficial for homebuyers that can afford it.

"High housing costs and widespread economic uncertainty have caused many would-be buyers to back off in recent years, creating the imbalance of buyers and sellers we see today," the report said.

The median price of a home in Dallas came out to $408,561 in August, though 79 percent of all home sales in the city sold for below their original asking price.

The top 10 strongest buyer's markets in the U.S. are:

No. 1 – Nashville, Tennessee
No. 2 – Miami, Florida
No. 3 – Houston, Texas
No. 4 – Orlando, Florida
No. 5 – Las Vegas, Nevada
No. 6 – San Antonio, Texas
No. 7 – Austin, Texas
No. 8 – Dallas, Texas
No. 9 – Atlanta, Georgia
No. 10 – Phoenix, Arizona

"Nashville, Texas, and Florida are home to robust buyer’s markets partly because they have some of the most active homebuilding pipelines in the country, with newly built homes continuing to hit the market even as demand cools," the report said.

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