Federal authorities and the Houston-area developer Colony Ridge have agreed to settle a lawsuit in which the government accused the company of duping Latino homebuyers into seller-financed mortgages that many defaulted on in a scheme that decimated dreams of home ownership while the developers raked in money, according to a court filing.
In an update requested by the judge overseeing the case, lawyers for the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice wrote they had “reached an agreement in principle resolving all claims” but needed more time to finalize the settlement.
The details of the agreement were not clear. Spokespeople for the Justice Department and Colony Ridge’s owners did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A separate lawsuit filed by the state, with similar accusations of predatory lending, remains ongoing.
See here and here for more on the federal and state lawsuits against the Colony Ridge developers, and here for all previous Colony Ridge blogging. I don’t know what to make of this settlement, about which we know very little, but the lawsuit was initiated during the Biden administration, and the Trump Justice Department has not had a lot of interest in those actions. That may or may not be a factor here, we don’t know enough to say, I’m just pointing that out. I’ll keep an eye out for further updates.
Who sued who ? I’d have been inclined to sue Abbott, Paxton, et al, for what were false claims…IF they were false.