Foreclosed
A couple charges that a local bank has conspired to take their land and that homophobia is at the heart of the bank’s case DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writertaffet@dallasvoice.com Mark Mattlage said his land in Crawford has been in his family since 1883.
But now the bank has foreclosed on the property, and Mattlage charges homophobia was involved. Mattlage said his grandfather purchased the ranch through the Texas Land Grant program, and, Mattlage explained, that through that program, his grandfather could only close on the property after the fourth year of farming it.
So the family’s actual ownership of the land maybe only dates back to 1887. In 1941, ownership of the farm passed to his parents.
And in 2005, Mattlage and his husband, Rob Snowden, who have been together for 42 years, began the process of purchasing the land from his parents. “Dad was in failing health,” Mattlage said, adding that his father passed away before they could complete the transaction.
