(Texas Scorecard) – A federal judge has rejected Colony Ridge’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit against the Houston-area development, which immigration experts say is using Spanish advertising to lure in illegal aliens.
The original civil suit against Colony Ridge by the U.S. Department of Justice and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleges the development targeted financially vulnerable buyers from Latin countries through marketing almost exclusively in Spanish.
In addition, the suit accused Colony Ridge of predatory lending practices by “fail[ing] to assess borrowers’ ability to repay,” consequently charging late fees and preparing contracts, deeds, or other documents in English without attaching an accurate Spanish translation.
According to the suit, Colony Ridge is operated by brothers John and William “Trey” Harris, who offer loans on land sales.
Also alleging deceptive trade practices, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a similar lawsuit against Colony Ridge.
Paxton’s lawsuit alleges that marketing implies houses are “move-in” ready, in reality, they are in poor condition. An anonymous employee mentioned in the suit that she was told to target Hispanic social media users by using fake accounts to avoid being recognized as Colony Ridge.
“When M.V. began her employment, Colony Ridge provided her with 60 fake Facebook accounts and told her to post 20-25 times a day on each account,” read Paxton’s lawsuit. “The accounts featured names and pictures of individuals, maintaining the idea that the accounts were offering a sale of a lot by the account owner, not Colony Ridge. M.V. was prohibited from mentioning Colony Ridge in these listings.”
Colony Ridge’s population is increasing rapidly, according to immigration expert Todd Bensman. He told The Daily Wire that buyers can also circumvent usual requirements, like a social security number.
“There’s very thin law enforcement presence in that area,” Bensman said. “It’s appealing because they plan to live and work illegally. That means that they probably have to break a whole lot of different kinds of laws in order to buy vehicles and drive the vehicles and maybe show documents to potential employers. When people buy here, they’re buying peace of mind from law enforcement.”
In February, outgoing State Rep. Ernest Bailes blamed the development of Colony Ridge on Gov. Greg Abbott. “Following [Colony Ridge’s creation], I was asked by the developer to write a letter in support of designating Colony Ridge as an ‘Opportunity Zone,’ so that his development would be eligible for increased federal funding to promote the growth of said development,” wrote Bailes on Facebook.
“I refused to do so; we couldn’t handle the growth as it was and sure didn’t need any more! This resulted in the developer making a $50,000 contribution to Governor Abbott, which bought him a sit down lunch in the Governors Mansion with Governor Abbott and his Chief of Staff. This same $50,000 bought the Governor’s signature and blessing for the Opportunity Zone designation.”
William Harris has donated $1.4 million to Abbott’s campaign and $1,800 to Ernest Bailes under the occupations “Colony Ridge Development” and “Business Owner,” according to TransparencyUSA.
The development is a hot spot for cartel activity, drug trafficking, and violent crime.
Colony Ridge also faces ongoing investigations by the Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.