Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told The Daily Wire that “literally every sale” made by Colony Ridge, a Texas development that’s become a magnet for illegal immigrants, could be in violation of consumer protection law, posing an existential threat to the controversial development company.
Paxton recently announced a lawsuit into Colony Ridge, the Texas development that uses potentially illegal financial and marketing practices to attract illegal immigrants, with the suit alleging consumer protection violations and fraudulent practices.
“Literally every sale they make could be a penalty,” Paxton explained in an interview with The Daily Wire. “That’s the design of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, is to protect consumers, because each of these consumers individually don’t have the money or the resources to go sue.”
The lawsuit could be financially devastating for Colony Ridge, with Paxton detailing the type of financial penalties that could be assessed against the development.
“Typically under the deceptive trade practice, it’s $10,000 per violation,” he stated before adding that the state is also seeking punitive damages from the development. With an estimated 50,000 to 75,000 current residents, violations could result in severe financial penalties.
The development came under the national spotlight late last summer after an investigation by The Daily Wire detailed its marketing practices, which are exclusively in Spanish and highlight the ability to “own land in the United States” without traditional identification or financing arrangements. The Texas state legislature worked to address concerns about rising crime and other issues during a special session, and Paxton also indicated that his office would be taking a close look at Colony Ridge.
The Attorney General honed in on the specifics of the lawsuit, asserting that Colony Ridge targets Hispanics, including a significant number of illegal immigrants, who do not speak English and are unable to read financial documents that the development requires them to sign.
“I think they’re targeting Hispanics. They’re targeting people that they think they can sell this to and they might not understand because of the language barrier what they’re actually signing up for,” Paxton charged. “Since many of them are illegal, they’re not used to knowing what the culture is here.”
“They’re not realizing that they’re not actually getting the infrastructure that’s being promised. They’re not getting a good deal on their lot and their house. They’re overcharged on … the financing of it and the fees, and it makes it very difficult to sustain,” Paxton explained. “Ultimately what happens is many of them lose their homes and then these developers just resell it.”
The lawsuit from Paxton comes as the embattled development also faces a joint lawsuit from the Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which similarly alleges that Colony Ridge has engaged in predatory financial practices.
The Daily Wire confirmed that Colony Ridge is being investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency while the New York Post reported that the development is also facing investigations from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
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