The Biden administration’s Department of Justice and Consumer Protection Financial Bureau are suing Colony Ridge, a massive development north of Houston, Texas, that’s become a magnet for illegal aliens, alleging “bait-and-switch” sales and predatory financing practices.
The suit, announced today and filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, states that the massive housing development sold plots of flood-prone land without water, sewer, or electrical infrastructure, all while exploiting a language barrier at the expense of customers.
“Today’s complaint alleges that Colony Ridge targeted Hispanic consumers with predatory loans, misled borrowers about the water, sewer, and electrical infrastructure on its lots, and exploited language barriers by conducting most of its marketing in Spanish while offering important transaction documents only in English,” United States Attorney General Merrick Garland asserted.
A September investigation by The Daily Wire highlighted how the development’s marketing practices appear to be aimed at people who are in the United States illegally. The development sells inexpensive plots of land at sky-high interest rates, targeting buyers such as illegal immigrants who are ineligible to apply for traditional loans.
The announcement states that Colony Ridge, led by developers and brothers William “Trey” Harris and John Harris, is being sued by the DOJ and CFPB for “operating an illegal land sales scheme and targeting tens of thousands of Hispanic borrowers with false statements and predatory loans.” Trey Harris is a major political donor in Texas, and has made contributions to several prominent politicians, including over $1 million to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
The announcement of the suit states that Colony Ridge “churns through borrowers in a cycle of foreclosure,” allowing the company to repurchase foreclosed properties before reselling them, often at higher prices. It also states that the development “exploits language barriers at borrower’s expense.”
“Colony Ridge promised the American dream, but we allege that in reality, it has delivered a nightmare for thousands of hardworking Hispanic families who hoped to build their homes in the Terrenos Houston community,” added Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra called the operation a “set-up-to-fail scheme that has led thousands of families to lose their dreams of homeownership.”
U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas alleged that Colony Ridge “set out to exploit something as old as America – an immigrant’s dream of owning a home,” all by “Using 21st century social-media applications to target and mislead consumers.”
The complaint seeks to stop Colony Ridge’s alleged unlawful conduct, provide redress for affected consumers, and impose a civil penalty payable to the CFPB victims relief fund.
Colony Ridge has been the subject of multiple Daily Wire investigations highlighting the development’s marketing practices, which appear to be aimed at people who are in the United States illegally.