Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit in Hennepin County against C4D, LLC, its owners Travis Benoit and Steven Legatt, and related entity Five Points Properties, LLC, alleging 18 counts of violating the Minnesota Human Rights Act, federal lending laws, and state consumer-fraud and contract-for-deed laws. The complaint alleges the defendants sold homes through predatory contracts for deed with inflated prices, hidden finance charges, and large annual balloon payments that leave buyers immediately underwater and forfeit all equity upon default, while targeting Somali-American Muslims on the basis of religion and national origin — a form of 'reverse redlining.' The AG seeks an injunction, civil penalties, and cancellation or reformation of existing contracts; no penalty amounts have been determined.
The AG asks the court to stop the defendants from continuing their unlawful practices, impose civil penalties, and cancel or reform existing contracts for deed where necessary to remedy consumer injuries. Because this is a newly filed complaint rather than a settlement or order, no penalty amounts or final remedies have been set.
Although this is a fair-lending and consumer-protection action rather than a privacy enforcement matter, it signals major contract risk for any business using seller financing, installment sales, or contract-for-deed structures. In-house teams should review contract-for-deed and installment sale templates for Truth in Lending Act disclosure compliance (accurate finance charges, total cost of credit, and balloon payment schedules), state contract-for-deed statutory requirements (cancellation procedures, cure periods, foreclosure protections), and forfeiture clauses that terminate contracts after a single missed payment or short cure window. Marketing and lead-generation agreements should be audited for fair-housing and fair-lending risk — particularly any targeting of customers by religion, national origin, or race, which supports reverse-redlining claims under the Minnesota Human Rights Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act — and vendor or broker agreements should include anti-discrimination representations, compliance warranties, and indemnities. Pricing schedules, fee disclosures, and equity/refinance provisions should also be reviewed to ensure the total consumer cost is transparent and not structurally designed to trigger default and forfeiture.
Entity
C4D, LLC
Industry
Real Estate"filed a lawsuit against C4D, LLC (“C4D”), its owners Travis Benoit and Steven Legatt, and a related entity called Five Points Properties, LLC"
"filed a lawsuit"
"September 9, 2026 (SAINT PAUL)"
"violated multiple state and federal laws by selling houses via predatory and illegal contracts for deed; used deceptive trade practices to market their contracts for deed; and discriminated against Somali-American Muslims by leveraging their religious beliefs to target them with particularly abusive and deceptive contracts for deed — a form of reverse redlining"
"Attorney General Ellison alleges 18 counts of violating the Minnesota Human Rights Act; the federal Truth in Lending Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and Consumer Financial Protection Act; Minnesota state laws against consumer fraud and deception trade practices; and Minnesota contract for deed requirements."
"asks the court to stop the C4D defendants from continuing their unlawful practices, impose civil penalties on the defendants, and to cancel or reform existing contracts when necessary to remedy injuries consumers have or will suffer"
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$35.0M
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$75.5M
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