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South Texas ranch owners sue, say they didn’t get the deer hunting mecca they expected


Patrick Danner Aug. 28, 2020 Updated: Aug. 28, 2020 7:17 p.m.

The owners of a South Texas ranch say trophy white-tailed deer that they were told populated the roughly 7,000-acre property did not exist. They are now suing the seller and the real estate broker.



The seller of a roughly 7,000-acre ranch in Maverick County disputes the buyers’ allegations that they were defrauded.



An advertising brochure for the Rosita Creek Ranch in Eagle Pass touted the more than 7,000-acre property — with an asking price of about $14.5 million — as a “true sportsman’s paradise.”

The ranch features four massive lakes that offer waterfowl hunting and fishing, and it’s home to some blackbuck antelope and other South Texas species.

What really hooked the buyers, however, were the white-tailed trophy deer they were told roamed the property.


The company and partnership that bought the ranch now say it’s not the deer hunting mecca they were led to believe.


The “deer did not exist on this ranch but on another piece of property, and the deer herd has been mismanaged and overharvested,” according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in state District Court in San Antonio.

Lufkin-based 2350 Senator Partners LLC and Gillespie Partners Ltd. have sued the seller, Corpus Christi’s Winn Exploration Co., and San Antonio real estate broker Stephen Stransky for fraud, violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and breach of contract over the sale.

Van Huseman, a Corpus Christi lawyer representing Winn Exploration, disputed the allegations and noted the lawsuit was filed just days before a seven-figure note held by his client was due.

“They got what they paid for,” Huseman said Friday. “The Winns said what they were going to do. And now that the note comes due, (the buyers are) starting to try to figure out a way of getting out of it. So these claims, like Dracula, rise from the tomb.”

Chad Upham, a Boerne lawyer who represents Stransky, said his client denies any wrongdoing.

“These people got a great ranch,” Upham said. “It’s a shame they’re not enjoying it. As far as we’re concerned, we sold them a great ranch.”

Among the owners’ principals is Richard “Rick” Levens, who got his start in real estate by taking foreclosure courses from an infomercial guru who Levens testified on behalf of during a 1998 fraud trial in Orlando, Fla., the Orlando Sentinel reported at the time. Levens, 52, is a former Atlanta Braves prospect.


The Maverick County ranch features a 9,100-square-foot main lodge that overlooks a 250-acre lake. The property also has a 6,200-foot paved runway and a hangar.

Marketing materials pitched the ranch as having the “potential to be a great investment for future development given its proximity” to Eagle Pass.

The ranch has been part of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Managed Lands Deer Program, or MLDP, for years and has “great whitetail deer,” the materials added.

The state launched the program in 1996 to encourage landowners to practice sound management and stewardship of wildlife habitat on private lands, said Alan Cain, the department’s white-tailed deer leader.

In exchange, landowners can take advantage of an extended deer hunting season and more liberal harvesting opportunities.

More than 12,000 properties encompassing about 28.5 million acres across the state participate in the program, he said.


After closing on the ranch sale in August 2018, the buyers say they discovered its MLDP permit had lapsed.

They “also discovered the lack of trophy deer and that there had been multiple misrepresentations by … (Winn Exploration and Stransky) about the size of the deer and the overall management of the property,” the complaint alleges.

The ranch had been benefiting from a hunting lease that generated $140,000 a year due to the MLDP, the suit adds. But after the MLDP lapsed, “the hunters immediately canceled the lease.”

The owners say it will cost them about $10 million to “recreate a deer herd” on the property. They seek unspecified financial damages, including triple damages under the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

After the owners sent letters complaining about the transaction, Huseman said, depositions of the parties were taken.

“Our perception was at the end of it that there was not a chance in a million of them pursing a claim of the sort that they’ve been making,” Huseman said.

The owners never had a game survey done before they bought the ranch, he said.

“They bought this ranch, under the contract documents, as I recall, as is,” which means the property was being bought in its current condition, Huseman said. “The idea that … if we show them a picture of a game survey of deer that’s some place on the ranch, that somehow when they buy the ranch that deer’s still going to be alive after hunting season is just … not credible.”

Scott Skelton, a Lufkin attorney for the ranch owners, didn’t have a comment.

Patrick Danner Patrick Danner covers banking, insurance, business litigation and bankruptcies. To read more from Patrick, become a subscriber. pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD

I am not in the financial bracket to buy a $15,000,000 property, but I like to look at them on Lands of America.

Every property on Lands of America and every agent selling big ranches uses the terms "sportsman's paradise".

Having hunted quite a few mismanaged ranches, it is easy to claim that any ranch is a sportsmans paradise.

I don't know why real estate market for ranches would be any less crooked than the real estate marked for anything else.

Gotta check things out before signing the papers.

George

Old saying the real estate biz; "let the buyer beware".

Ha, Maverick county. Let the place go for 3 yrs and you'll have your "paradise". Great, muy grande area.

Perry

I guess the concept of using a helicopter and skilled biologists to fly over and do a game count did not occur to these brilliant investors? Cost would be about $5000 and they would have had the answer. Kind of like doing an inspection on a house before you buy it....

Their own fault....

I am going to presume that the buyers no really local good ole boys, who might know what they're doing, concerning the game population, but some "gentleman owner" which was describe in Law school, as someone who owns land in the country, but their" assests" in town. Agree they should have had it looked at first, for sure.

The buyers should have chosen an agent to represent them that understood hunting and game management and would help them learn the truth about the property.

A couple months ago I sold a hunting ranch and I guided the new owner and his friends on their first few hunts to make sure they got some game and learned how to hunt the place. Since then they've sent me a couple photos of game they got on their own and they're really happy.

This week I showed another hunting ranch and after the buyer showed some interest I helped him book a hunt with the gentleman who has been guiding on the place for decades so he can get the full story on the game and how to hunt it.

It's all about choosing the correct representative. Too often buyers choose their agent because they're a drinking buddy, spend the most on internet ads - or look great in high-heels - and not for their knowledge and experience. (And yes, my hiking boots have fairly high heels... but even my wife wouldn't say I look great in them.)

That said, I can believe that someone might need the money back and is just having their attorneys looking for any way to bring in funds. Not the first time I've seen that happen either.

Say the least, it’s comical

quote:

Originally posted by Kyler Hamann:
The buyers should have chosen an agent to represent them that understood hunting and game management and would help them learn the truth about the property.

A couple months ago I sold a hunting ranch and I guided the new owner and his friends on their first few hunts to make sure they got some game and learned how to hunt the place. Since then they've sent me a couple photos of game they got on their own and they're really happy.

This week I showed another hunting ranch and after the buyer showed some interest I helped him book a hunt with the gentleman who has been guiding on the place for decades so he can get the full story on the game and how to hunt it.

It's all about choosing the correct representative. Too often buyers choose their agent because they're a drinking buddy, spend the most on internet ads - or look great in high-heels - and not for their knowledge and experience. (And yes, my hiking boots have fairly high heels... but even my wife wouldn't say I look great in them.)

That said, I can believe that someone might need the money back and is just having their attorneys looking for any way to bring in funds. Not the first time I've seen that happen either.

Our last property we walked into a real estate office and this super buxom, thin, tall, blond comes around the corner in her 5 inch heels and my wife who is very attractive pulls me to the side and said "We have to go, I am not dealing with that shit."

Hot chicks sell well!

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:

Our last property we walked into a real estate office and this super buxom, thin, tall, blond comes around the corner in her 5 inch heels and my wife who is very attractive pulls me to the side and said "We have to go, I am not dealing with that shit."

Hot chicks sell well!

That reminds me that I should call Angel Titsworth about a property I might sell.

How could they prove the trophy deer not there now nor when they bought? A permanent fixture such as a barn that was supposed to be there, might make a case, but a wild animal? ___