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Dallas County jury has found Stallion Funding, LLC guilty of fraudulently luring Colin Dooley and his real estate development firm, Dooley Developments USA LLC, into loan-to-own terms that led to foreclosure on a lucrative townhome project in Old East Dallas. The scheme deprived Mr. Dooley, an Australian expat, of the property's equity value.

    The jury found Stallion Funding liable for fraud, breach of contract, usury, wrongful foreclosure, and promissory estoppel, and determined the defendants acted with malice. They rejected the defendants' $16-million counterclaims against Dooley in their entirety, awarding him over $6 million in damages instead.

    Evidence presented during a weeklong trial showed that Stallion Funding failed to honor an underlying settlement agreement with Dooley Developments, refused to fund draw requests, and hindered closings of unit sales. The jury also heard that the defendants made a $5-million profit from the project through wrongful foreclosure, contradicting their claims of financial loss.

    Internal communications revealed that the amount of money Stallion Funding committed under the loans was never available. "I am proud of our client Colin Dooley," said partner Brett Rosenthal. "He put nine years of hard work into this project. The defendants thought they could take advantage of him, but justice has finally been done."

    Mr. Dooley is relieved that justice has been served and looks forward to returning to his work at Swiss Avenue Funding, a Dallas-based loan originations company he founded in 2020 with the mission of bringing fairness and integrity back to private real estate lending.