More on Fraud, Harassment, Deceptive Trade Law Suit Against Sienna Plantation Developers (from the Fort Bend Herald)

THE LATEST From the Herald: Sienna Plantation resident sues developer that sued him for libel

By Stephen Palkot


A Sienna Plantation resident who has been sued for disparaging statements about a local developer is fighting back with a suit of his own.

Chris Calvin, who in late 2005 was sued by the Sienna/Johnson Development Co. for statements made on several websites, this week filed a suit in the district courts of Fort Bend County. The suit claims the company sold him a lot under false pretenses and filed their libel suit to harass him for speaking out against them.

The first lawsuit stemmed from Calvin's participation in several websites, including Missouri City Chatter, in which he used several pseudonyms while criticizing the developer.

The lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Sienna Plantation, John Keville, has said Calvin engaged in libel by using many different pseudonyms.

"[I]t gives the false appearance that there's this large group that has concerns with the community," he said.
Calvin has characterized that first lawsuit as a SLAPP, or strategic lawsuit against public participation, designed to overwhelm him with legal fees and to hobble his activism.

Calvin, who moved into Sienna Plantation in 2002, is opposed to plans for the construction of apartment complexes within the community, which currently has about 10,000 residents. He has spoken out both online and at public comments of Missouri City City Council meetings in opposition to apartments.

While Sienna Plantation is not within Missouri City's corporate limits, it is within the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, and the city council must approve new developments.

In Calvin's lawsuit, he states that he purchased his lot in 2002 based on certain representations by various Sienna entities.
"Those representations included, but are not limited to, the extent to which certain portions of the Community would be used for recreational purposes," the suit reads.

Since then, Sienna has "abandoned" that plan and has chosen to build multi-family housing instead, reads the suit.
The suit claims that Sienna Plantation engaged in negligence by supplying "false" information to Calvin when he purchased his lot.

Then, in December of 2005, the company "filed a groundless suit in bad faith and/or for the purpose of harassment."
Furthermore, the suit alleges the developer committed fraud when Calvin purchased his home.
"The false representations or promises were made to the Calvins for the purpose of inducing them to enter into the contract to acquire the Calvins' lot," the suit reads.

Finally, the suit alleges that the company engaged in deceptive trade practices, in violation of the Consumer Protection Act.
The suit requests that a court rule in their favor and to "award them their damages, costs of court, attorney's fees, and for such other and further relief that may be awarded at law or in equity."
In response to Calvin's lawsuit, Keville said "the basis of the claim is completely contradicted by documents he signed and testimony already given."

Keville said that before Calvin closed on the purchase of his home, he signed a document stating he understood the developer has the ability to include multifamily housing and other kinds of developments in the community.
"They had ample opportunity to look into what might or might not be built," Keville said.
The case will be tried in the 240th District Court of Judge Thomas Culver III.


Comment: No comment needed. The case will produce a great deal of information on this case that WILL be made public. The community will no longer be kept silent through SLAPP suits like this (which according to the research are used most often by developers in land use debates and violate the petition clause of the Bill of Rights).