In 2005, Austin Ranch, a multi-family apartment residence in The Colony, built a unique mixed retail/residential area called Austin Square. This was a for sale only condo/townhome community nested in the middle of an all-rental property. It included 44 One and Two-Bedroom Condos along with 8 Townhomes. The concept by Billingsley Corp. was to establish a mixed retail/residential environment similar to The Shops at Legacy. (See: http://www.austin-square.com/)

I purchased a 1-Bedroom Condo and moved in January 2006. Six other condo units sold along with six townhome properties. In 2006, we all purchased at top market prices but by May of 2006, Billingsley changed their strategy. Apparently units were not moving as quickly as they had hoped so they offered to buy back condo units ONLY for original purchase price. We received this in a letter. You had to make your mind up in less than 60 days or the deal was off the table. Two condo owners sold their properties back and moved away. The rest of us stayed with a "promise" from Billingsley that more units in the next Phase would be for sale thus not crushing our potential resale opportunties. They were very accommodating with us at that time. We were told it was an economic decision to rent rather than sell the rest of the properties however, the economy had not even begun it's decline.

The next Austin Ranch Phase opened this year, a $57 million project and not one unit is for sale. Has Billingsley suffered so much economically that they spent another $57 Million? (See: http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2008/04/07/story12.html) In the meantime, our property values have plummeted. On top of that, we cannot sell due to the fact that over 90% of ownership is by Billingsley in our Property Owners Association. Billingsley has strong-armed us into paying exorbitant utilities that were originally a part of our dues. For example, for a one-bedroom condo I have paid up to $77.00 for just water/sewer expense while my renting neighbor pays $27.00.

Now, since only 10 units out of a 2500 rental units inside all of Austin Ranch are owned we thought it only made since that Billingsley should simply buy us out. We met with Kimberly Meyer and their in-house attorney earlier this year to discuss a buyback of our remaining 10 units. Since we cannot get financing to sell nor refinance, we decided Billingsley should own all their units since they have no plan of EVER building condos or townhomes to sell again. They flatly refused to buy back our units and said we could rent our units instead.

However, since we cannot refinance, we cannot rent for what we owe plus the Property Owners dues. They have a poorly ran Property Owners Association and we have no voice in the association (we can't even call a meeting). George Billingsley heads up this association and has made it impossible for us to rationally deal with them. We have pleaded via email, mail and voicemail to Lucy and Henry Billingsley but to no avail. They will not respond.

I could go on with a list of disputes but as a collective community all 10 homeowners have stayed together. Our goal is to have Billingsley make a fair offer to buy back these units since they have no intent of selling more. Billingsley did sell one remaining townhome that was in foreclosure to an employee for $173, 500 (nearly $100K less than original value). This new owner will be leasing the unit to a 3rd party.

We are all currently placing our units up for sale to prove our point. In the meantime, Billingsley is building even more communities all over town. More billboards announcing Grammercy Park, Austin Waters, Hemingway Court, and One Arts Plaza show their success. Why they won't consider buying back 10 measly units inside their own investment at Austin Ranch is beyond my comprehension.