Newly-filed court documents state that the house District 9 City Council candidate Lynlie Wallace uses as her primary Bexar County residence has been occupied by the same tenant continuously since 2013.

The documents are part of a lawsuit filed against Wallace, alleging she’s not a qualified candidate for office in San Antonio because she lives in Austin. It asks that a judge order a hearing immediately.

Patrick Von Dohlen, the District 9 candidate who sued Wallace, did so after the San Antonio Express-News published a story and columns indicating that Wallace hasn’t actually lived in San Antonio since at least 2013, despite her use of a local address as her primary residence. Wallace owns a house on Goldcrest Run in District 9 but has leased the property to a tenant for years; Wallace owns another home in Travis County, where she claims a homestead exemption and where she’s lived for at least a few years.

Wallace works as chief of staff for state Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, and is the girlfriend of U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio. She has repeatedly rejected the assertion that she doesn’t maintain a primary residence in San Antonio.

“Throughout this campaign, my opponents have attempted to distract voters from the important issues at hand, but I am a legal resident of the district according to the law, and I will continue to fight for the issues important to District 9,” she said in a written statement provided to the Express-News.

Jerad Najvar, Von Dohlen’s attorney, filed with the courts a declaration from the tenant, who said she’s met Wallace fewer than three times since signing a lease in 2013. The tenant’s name has been redacted in the court documents, and the Express-News previously agreed not to print the individual’s name at the request of Wallace’s campaign manager.

The tenant states in the court document that she has lived at the house on Goldcrest Run since September 2013, when she signed a 12-month lease. Since then she’s extended the annual contract twice and then in September 2016 asked for a shorter term.

Wallace agreed, the document shows, and the current lease is set to expire June 24. The tenant states in the document that she and her husband are purchasing a home and that in February, Wallace said she’d be willing to break the lease early because she wanted to move back into the San Antonio house.

Not long after the conversation between the tenant and Wallace, the tenant received an email from an Express-News reporter indicating that he had some questions, the filing states. The tenant notes that her father, who lives elsewhere in Texas, received a call from the reporter, who left a message. The reporter knocked on the tenant’s door and subsequently interviewed neighbors. A news television reporter apparently contacted the tenant in a similar way.

The tenant and her husband, the document states, were initially confused about why reporters were interested in their house. The tenant said in the court filing that her husband suggested she call Wallace and ask her directly.

“I called her and asked, ‘Did you put this address as your residence when you filed to run?’ Ms. Wallace said yes. I don’t remember her saying anything else,” the tenant said. “Honestly, I could tell she was embarrassed.”

The tenant also noted that she’s always sent her rent check to Wallace’s address in Austin and that the candidate “has never been over to the home to make any improvements or preparations to move back into the house,” and that Wallace has never stayed at the Goldcrest Run house or kept any belongings there.

Najvar said his client has a compelling case, asking a judge to disqualify her candidacy.

“We have more information now than we had from the prior news reports, and it is even clearer that Wallace is not a resident under the Election Code,” he said. “I’m confident the Court will enforce the residency standard if necessary to protect the integrity of this election.”

jbaugh@express-news.net

Twitter: @jbaugh