A large Fort Davis residence valued by Zillow at approximately $681,000 is headed to the auction block as a creditor seeks to collect a multimillion-dollar judgment against businessman Thomas Kelly.
Jeff Davis County Sheriff Victor Lopez levied Aug. 7 on the property at 501 W. Court Ave., according to a sheriff’s notice of sale. The property is scheduled to be offered at public auction Sept. 1 at the Jeff Davis County courthouse.
The property is substantial. Zillow lists the residence at 6,048 square feet and currently places its Zestimate at approximately $681,000. The property is listed as off market.
The sheriff’s legal description covers all of Lots 1 through 6 in Block D of the Home Addition to Fort Davis and identifies the property as belonging to Kelly.
The forced sale stems from a $5.5 million judgment obtained by Wallace Family Partnership LP against Kelly and Bay Harbor Investment Group LLC in the 191st Judicial District Court in Dallas County.
The writ of execution also identifies $389,415.91 in prejudgment interest and calls for interest at a rate of 15% annually beginning April 18, 2025.
The Dallas County case is styled Wallace Family Partnership, LP v. Thomas Kelly and Bay Harbor Investment Group, LLC, Cause No. DC-24-18172.
The sale is not a conventional mortgage foreclosure or a sale resulting from unpaid property taxes. It is an execution sale, a process through which property belonging to a judgment debtor can be seized and sold to help satisfy an outstanding court judgment.
In this case, the apparent value of the Fort Davis property represents only a fraction of the amount being pursued.
Even a sale near Zillow’s current $681,000 automated estimate would amount to roughly one-eighth of the $5.5 million principal judgment, before accounting for the additional interest identified in the writ.
Kelly has previously been involved in significant real estate investments through Bay Harbor Investment Group. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Northern District of Texas in 2020, identifying Kelly as its president and describing its business as primarily involving the rental and leasing of real estate.
The company’s assets at the time included the approximately 2,970-acre High View Ranch in Midlothian. Bay Harbor estimated both its assets and liabilities at between $10 million and $50 million in its bankruptcy filing.
The Fort Davis property now represents another piece of Kelly’s real estate holdings caught up in a much larger financial dispute.
Lopez is scheduled to offer Kelly’s right, title and interest in the property to the highest cash bidder beginning at 10 a.m. Sept. 1 at the Jeff Davis County courthouse entrance.
Unlike an ordinary real estate transaction, the sheriff’s auction does not begin with Zillow’s estimated value as a sale price. The property will be offered through the execution-sale process as Wallace Family Partnership attempts to recover at least part of its multimillion-dollar judgment.
