The federal government filed a lawsuit against Colony Ridge, alleging it’s Houston-area developer falsely represented land sales and targeted Hispanic consumers with predatory loans and false statements, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.
The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday, alleges the Liberty County residential community sells unsuspecting families flood-prone land without water, sewer or electric infrastructure, and that the company sets borrowers up for failure with unaffordable loans.
“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,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
The community development came under fire this year after allegations that the development company was creating a safe haven for crime, drug cartels and undocumented immigrants. The development company sells land to some people who aren’t citizens, but the “vast majority” of people who purchase land through Colony Ridge use Texas or U.S. identification forms, developer Trey Harris told Houston Public Media in October. Harris has disputed claims that the development specifically targets undocumented people to purchase land in Colony Ridge, but...
As a healthcare worker in Pennsylvania, I’m writing to urge our state senators to reject the False Claims Act legislation. While this bill is being advertised as a way to reduce fraud in our healt...