On April 10, DOJ and the defendants in a predatory lending and land sales case jointly filed a stipulation of voluntary dismissal with prejudice in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, formally ending the United States’ claims in the action. According to reporting, the filing came after the presiding judge raised concerns during a hearing about certain provisions of the parties’ proposed settlement (covered by InfoBytes here), including the allocation of funds toward local immigration and law enforcement and the absence of direct monetary relief for affected residents. In response, DOJ and the defendants opted to dismiss the claims pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii), which permits voluntary dismissal by stipulation of all parties without a court order, allowing the parties to move forward with the settlement outside of court supervision. The stipulation stated that DOJ’s and defendants’ settlement agreement resolved all of the government’s claims, with each side bearing its own costs, expenses and attorneys’ fees.