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Colony Ridge Reaches $68 Million Deal With DOJ and Texas, Imposing ID Rules and 3-Year Sales Freeze

The agreement links consumer-protection remedies to new policing commitments plus immigration-related verification.

Overview

  • Developers will invest $48 million in infrastructure, including $18 million for drainage, and $20 million to expand law enforcement with a new facility and funded officers.
  • The settlement halts approvals for new residential plats sold directly to consumers for three years and requires buyers to present a Texas-issued ID or a passport with a valid visa issued or renewed after Jan. 1, 2025.
  • Colony Ridge must adopt ability-to-repay underwriting, create a default-avoidance plan, revise foreclosure practices, and address borrower credit harms tied to past reporting.
  • The deal mandates truthful advertising, clear pre-sale disclosures on utilities and flooding, compliance with permits, and hiring an independent compliance specialist; the suits will be dismissed and the company denies wrongdoing.
  • No broad restitution fund is created, and individual relief requires meeting strict criteria, as authorities cite unusually high foreclosure rates under the developer’s seller-financed model; some law-enforcement funds may support 287(g) immigration partnerships.