“How did we get from 45 pages of financial transactions that rise to the level of reverse redlining to, ‘Let’s spend $20 million to increase immigration enforcement,’” Bennett said, referring to the federal government’s original complaint that contained allegations of predatory lending practices. “How did we get here?”
Colony Ridge, the Trump administration and the state of Texas previously agreed to a proposed $68 million settlement in February following a lawsuit initiated by former President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice.
The 2023 lawsuit alleged Colony Ridge used unscrupulous and illegal tactics to target Hispanic customers with high-interest loans and misled buyers about infrastructure, including water, sewer and electrical connections.
On Friday, Bennett said his questions needed to be answered before he could give his blessing to the settlement. But Jason Ray, an attorney for Colony Ridge, said the settlement remains in place without judicial oversight.
“If Judge Bennett has a concern about the expenditure of funds, then we would welcome court oversight,” he said. “We would have been happy either way.”
Ray said that through the discovery process, his clients were able to provide evidence that some of the allegations “were not well founded.”
“I think that’s why the settlement reflects the terms that it does,” he said.
The judge’s refusal to sign off on it means the parties will have to oversee its terms on their own, said Sasha Samberg-Champion, an attorney with the National Fair Housing Alliance.
“The judge can’t make the United States pursue a just resolution if it doesn’t want to,” he said. “He’s basically saying if you stand on this agreement… I am not going to keep this case and enforce this agreement. You’re on your own to enforce it.”
The National Fair Housing Alliance was part of a group of organizations that filed a court briefing asking the judge to scrutinize the agreement.
Samberg-Champion said he’s gratified that the judge had concerns about the settlement because the deal doesn’t “vindicate the rights” of Colony Ridge residents who lost their homes to foreclosure and suffered other financial hardships. He said Bennett’s refusal to sign off on the settlement leaves the door open for Colony Ridge residents to continue to pursue some sort of legal action.
“(The settlement) can be challenged by any resident, they don’t have the force of law behind the decisions they’ve taken today,” he said. “No judge is going to enforce this agreement.”