Lynlie Wallace, who has been seen as a serious contender in the District 9 City Council race, does not actually reside in the political jurisdiction she hopes to represent — or even the city of San Antonio — interviews and documents show.

At a San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board meeting this week, Wallace acknowledged questions about her residency have been a topic in the District 9 race and emphasized her primary residence is at a house on the North Side.

She told the newspaper that a woman who has been the listed account holder on the San Antonio Water System account for the address since 2013 was a “roommate.”

On Thursday, however, Wallace’s story changed after her campaign was presented with information obtained by the Express-News, including interviews with neighbors of the Goldcrest Run house who said they’d never seen Wallace there.

The candidate backtracked and said through a campaign consultant that the person occupying the house isn’t a roommate but a tenant who is set to move out this summer.

Questions over her residency arose, in part, because property records show she also owns a home in Austin, where she claims a homestead exemption, which is a tax break on the property a person owns and occupies as his or her “principal place of residence.”

City law mandates candidates must have lived in the city for a year and in the district they’re running in for six months preceding their filing for a place on the municipal ballot. Wallace filed her application on Jan. 25, meaning that she would have needed to be living in San Antonio by July 25, 2016.

Wallace, who’s the chief of staff for state Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio and the girlfriend of U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, is among 10 contenders seeking an open District 9 seat in the May 6 nonpartisan council election.

City Clerk Leticia Vacek could not be reached for comment, but she has said residency issues have to be resolved in district court. Earlier this year, District 8 candidate Manny Pelaez faced similar questions about residency. Pelaez continues to campaign and has denied any wrongdoing.

Wallace told the newspaper on Wednesday during the Editorial Board meeting for the District 9 race that the home on Goldcrest Run, which she’s owned since 2012, is her primary residence. She said she is registered to vote there and lives there when she’s not “staying” in her Austin house during the legislative session.

“I spend part of my time in Austin for work, but I live in San Antonio,” said Wallace, 33. “I stay there (at the Austin home) sometimes when I’m there for work.”

The campaign acknowledged Thursday that Wallace cannot enter the house unannounced — because she’s a landlord, not a roommate.

Public records show she purchased the house on Goldcrest Run, valued last year by the Bexar County Appraisal District at $147,760, in February 2012. Travis County records show she purchased a house, valued last year at $212,086, in northeast Austin in June 2014.

Though Wallace’s voter registration has been tied to the San Antonio address for years, beginning in 2013, the Bexar County Elections Office began mailing Wallace’s voter registration cards to addresses in Austin.

That’s the same year that the name on the SAWS account for the Goldcrest Run account changed from Wallace’s to another person. The account still is active in that person’s name, according to SAWS records obtained under the Texas Public Information Act.

On Wednesday, Wallace told the Editorial Board that the person on the SAWS account was her “roommate.” Asked to confirm, again, that the person living at the Goldcrest Run house shared the space with her, Wallace said, “Yes, she is my roommate.”

After the meeting, a reporter asked for the person’s contact information. Wallace said she would share it but asked if she could first take a phone call, though her cellphone didn’t appear to be ringing, and stepped out of the conference room, saying she would be right back.

She never returned.

Nor did she return a call seeking comment.

Several neighbors said they’ve seen a family living in the house and said they’d never seen Wallace there.

On Thursday, through her campaign manager, Wallace walked back use of the term “roommate.” The person living in the home is a tenant, not a roommate.

“Lynlie misspoke and wanted to amend that,” campaign consultant Justin Hollis said.

In a prepared statement, Wallace said she’ll be in San Antonio if she’s elected to the District 9 seat.

“I have fought for and served the constituents of District 9 for the past 11 years in multiple public service roles. From time to time my work takes me away from home on a temporary basis,” she said. “Given the opportunity to serve, I will be right here, at my home in District 9, one hundred percent of the time.”

Marco Barros and John Courage, two candidates in the 10-way race, said they’d heard the questions surrounding Wallace’s residency.

Barros said he thought Wallace’s responses at the Editorial Board meeting were confusing and raised several questions. Courage said she doesn’t appear to be a qualified candidate.

“People in the district need to know at least that there’s some dishonesty behind her campaign,” he said.

jbaugh@express-news.net