HOUSTON, TX—The Houston-based business litigation firm Burford Perry LLP has won a final judgment totaling more than $7 million in a hotly contested property foreclosure lawsuit tied to a strip center on Westheimer Road.
Burford Perry partner Kevin Powers successfully represented WCW Houston Properties, LLC, in the case heard before Judge Mike Engelhart in Harris County’s 151st District Court.
The real estate dispute began in 2018 when Mr. Powers’ clients at WCW considered buying two liens on the strip center owned by Houston-based Texas REIT, LLC.
The primary owner of Texas REIT responded by creating a new company with purported ownership in London. That company then acquired one of the strip mall liens and a deed of trust, while WCW secured the other lien and another deed of trust on the same property.
The newly created company then foreclosed on Texas REIT’s property and claimed millions of dollars more than its lien was worth so WCW would receive nothing, effectively eliminating WCW’s lien without paying the company a nickel.
The resulting lawsuit filed by Mr. Powers and the Burford Perry team revealed the scheme and exposed the wrongful foreclosure. During a dispute among Texas REIT’s members, the foreclosure was rescinded, and the title was vested back to Texas REIT.
Mr. Powers and Burford Perry then won a summary judgment against Texas REIT on the underlying debt and an order granting WCW’s lien priority over the Defendant’s lien to protect WCW from a future foreclosure. The judgment further authorizes WCW to foreclose on its now first-priority lien.
The final judgment in WCW Houston Properties, LLC v. Texas REIT, LLC, et al., No. 2017-35320, includes an award of $6,967,483 in favor of WCW in addition to a rolling rate of 18% interest as of April 18, 2022. The judgment also orders the defendants to pay WCW’s court costs.
