The campaign website of Texas Representative Justin Holland now rejects allegations reported by The Dallas Express. The Dallas Express. Court filings obtained by The Dallas Express do not align with the state lawmaker’s version of events. DX.
Holland, who is running for re-election, was appointed receiver of an estate and allegedly coordinated a discounted sale of a property to a campaign donor. reported by DX.
After the story’s publication, a section denying the real estate allegations appeared on Holland’s website. website Holland's website claims the real estate allegations are false, stating that the property was less valuable than the estate’s beneficiaries believed.
Holland’s website asserts that disputes over the proposed sales price arose and no discounts were offered. The family had unrealistic expectations regarding the price and process of disposal of the court orders. Holland opted to cancel the contract and sought to be released from his duties.
The property remains unsold due in part to its location in a floodplain and its unattractiveness for development.
Court documents reveal that Holland stepped down after the estate's beneficiaries filed a joint motion to appoint a new receiver or terminate the receivership. motion A motion was filed by the estate's beneficiaries in July 2022 to appoint a new receiver or terminate the receivership.
The motion concludes that the beneficiaries have collectively lost confidence in Mr. Holland’s commitment to generating fair market value from the sale of the properties.
The motion emphasizes that because of concerns with the receivership, they request the Court to appoint a new Receiver or terminate the receivership.
The motion requests the Court to appoint a new Receiver or, in the alternative, terminate the receivership and restore full authority over the properties to the Independent Executor of the Estate.
Holland did not respond to requests for comment on the specific corruption allegations or the initial report on the real estate deal. DX Holland did not respond to a request for comment in the initial report on the real estate deal.
Chris “Riggs” Burks, a Navy veteran and member of the family that owns the property, informed The Dallas Express of Holland’s alleged corruption, stating that the property was not listed online or set up for sale, and never received an appraisal. However, a political sign was set up at the property. The Dallas Express. Chris “Riggs” Burks claimed that Holland’s alleged corruption came to his attention through his own research and provided details about the property's lack of online listing, for sale sign, or appraisal, but mentioned the presence of a political sign.
The family asserts Holland tried to sell their property for $750,000 to Brian Berry, his former coworker at the Heath City Council. They later worked together at Med-Tech Construction. The family claimed this attempted sale was at a $1.2 million discount.
Berry was once the mayor of Health when Holland was on the city council, and gave the latter a plaque when he left to campaign for the Texas House. He donated $11,500 to Holland’s campaign for the Texas House from 2015 to 2017, according to Transparency USA.
“I want the voters to be aware of this because this situation actually happened to my family in Rockwall County,” Burks informed The Dallas Express. “When I received the sales contract between Justin Holland and Brian Berry, I really didn’t even know who these two people were because I had been gone so long from Rockwall and the politics of the area while serving in the military.”
“After researching the buyer and the seller on the sales contract, I discovered what appeared to me to be a questionable sales transaction,” he continued. “If Justin Holland had acted like a true real estate professional and picked up the phone and called my family to negotiate a price, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”
Burks said his family spent $45,000 in attorney fees to stop the sale and eventually get Holland removed as receiver of the property.
“I would ask the voters in this election to be diligent when selecting their State Representative for District 33,” he told DX. “And after reviewing the case filed in Rockwall County, to just be aware of who they are electing to represent them in Austin, Texas.”
