Fredericksburg couple sue Boerne serious estate broker for fraud in excess of sale of Hill Region ranch

The few seeks extra than $1 million in damages from authentic estate broker Harold “Trip” duPerier III, his brokerage, the duPerier Texas Land Gentleman, and other entities.

The defendants have denied the allegations, calling the lawsuit an “attempted shakedown by an opportunistic pair of plaintiffs who seek out in surplus of $1 million much more than the $7.25 million they have previously been paid out from the sale of the White Cross Ranch.”

In a statement, the duPerier Texas Land Man claimed it has tried using to solve the dispute “amicably and without the need of the value of litigation, but to no avail.”

“The duPerier Texas Land person brokers and agents try to be the most effective experts in the ranch income company,” it stated Monday. “It’s regrettable the sellers are not happy with the outcomes of their transaction.”

Williams and Davis in June 2020 signed a listing settlement with the duPerier Texas Land Man to sell the ranch. The company’s web-site suggests its “client record consists of film stars, CEOs, tunes stars and other influential buyers.”

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The pair listed the ranch, which they purchased in 2010, for $8 million. At the very least a portion of the ranch has been applied as hunting grounds for native wildlife and imported unique animals.

Henry McDonald, a New Mexico ranch operator, submitted an give and after some negotiating, agreed to purchase White Cross Ranch for $7.25 million at the stop of 2020.

In January 2021, Williams and Davis were recommended that yet another customer wished to order the ranch for the exact same rate.

According to the defendants’ reaction to the lawsuit, the acquire contract “expressly named Henry McDonald and/or his assigns as the buyer.” The defendants insert that the income contract did not contain a prohibition on assignments. The contract alternatively “explicitly contemplated” that McDonald could assign his rights beneath the contract to any get together.

DTB Investments L.P. stepped in as the buyer.

Williams and Davis “became curious” about DTB and performed their personal investigate, their lawsuit says. They learned that duPerier was the principal of DTB. Condition company documents present duPerier is the manager of DTB’s general spouse.

The defendants verified that duPerier experienced an fascination in the partnership and that he was getting the ranch “for his loved ones to enjoy,” the accommodate states. “Although plaintiffs have been concerned that this details was not disclosed, based mostly on the defendants’ representations, they decided to progress with the closing as scheduled.”

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Right after the deal shut in February 2021, Williams and Davis claimed they discovered that DTB experienced negotiated to order the assignment from McDonald for $571,500.

“Defendants unsuccessful to disclose that the genuine buy value of the residence was $7,821,500” — the first invest in rate as well as the selling price for the assignment, the couple’s go well with claims.

The representation that duPerier acquired the ranch for his relatives to appreciate was bogus, Williams and Davis’ grievance provides. They say the “intent was to utilize the residence for progress functions and provide it for a financial gain,” citing DTB’s March 2021 acquire of the 4,837-acre YO4 Ranch just to the north of White Cross Ranch.

In August, DTB sold 1,000 acres of White Cross Ranch to RRCT Ltd. of Kerrville. The couple thinks the land was sold for “a significantly bigger price” than DTB purchased it from them six months before.

The adhering to thirty day period, the match provides, DTB sold the remaining roughly 1,700 acres of White Cross Ranch and the YO4 Ranch to Will-O Ranch LP — a different partnership affiliated with duPerier.

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At the end of very last year, Will-O Ranch sold the 1,700 acres and about 857 acres of the YO4 Ranch to Austin-based 4B Ranch Associates LLC. Once more, Williams and Davis think the land was sold for “a significantly bigger price” than what DTB acquired it for previously in the 12 months.

“We trusted and relied on the DuPerier entities as our fiduciaries,” Williams and Davis reported in an emailed statement. “They owed us the highest duties acknowledged in the law. They misled, misrepresented and failed to disclose data to us, their purchasers, for the sole objective of lining their own pockets.”

In addition to the fraud declare, Williams and Davis are suing duPerier, his company and partnerships, and one particular of his agents who dealt with the White Cross Ranch sale for breach of fiduciary obligation, breach of contract and violations of the Deceptive Trade Tactics Act.

The defendants say the lawsuit is “baseless.” They include in their remedy that the plaintiffs “were conscious of — and acquiesced to — lots of of the steps they now complain about.”

The accommodate originally was submitted in February in Kendall County, but was eradicated very last month to condition District Court in San Antonio.

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