I've mentioned before that I used to do tax work for similar situations to Colony Ridge (except this was long ago, the lots less expensive, the buyers were not illegal aliens). But the financial premise was the same. The lots were seller financed on contracts for deed. The "developers" would buy a hundred acres or two, put in dirt roads (mostly), sell the lots for $1,700 to $2,500 or so, with like $25 down, a $30 to $35 monthly payment, ten-year note, 10% interest. I called them "river bottom subdivisions." At some point, the county would take over the roads and have to upgrade them. They eventually put a stop to that.
The first return I did, I asked that under those terms, don't you take a lot of the properties back? He said yes, and they hoped they took all of them back. He said some had been sold and taken back and resold a half-dozen times. Often, with so little money up front, people would buy two to six lots that adjoined each other, eventually letting all but one or two go back. I asked how that panned out with all the legal and court costs and he said there aren't any, other than a certified letter. If someone got behind, they sent a letter giving the buyer 30 days to cure the shortfall, if they didn't, they lost the property.
I will never forget him saying "one thing about it, interest works for you even while you are sleeping." Which is true!
And with Colony Ridge, there are a lot of payoffs being made. Abbott is on the take, some state legislators have benefitted financially as well (likely more than is already publicly known), I suspect some at the county level have their snout in the trough too, relatives getting high dollar contracts and then making campaign contributions, and law enforcement is turning a blind eye.