Four years ago, federal prosecutors placed a lien on Bart Reagor’s historic 19th Street home – part of trying to recover $9.38 million from the Reagor-Dykes Auto Group collapse.
Then, last month, they dropped the lien, allowing the Texas Tech University System to buy the home as the new chancellor’s residence.
It was one of multiple legal roadblocks needing to be cleared before the university system could buy the historic O.W. English home from Reagor, records showed.
Another roadblock was cleared when Reagor’s wife, Carla Annette Reagor, filed a successful demand with Lubbock County that Ford Motor Credit Company drop its claim on the home in December.
We asked the Department of Justice, Texas Tech, Annette Reagor and attorneys for the businesses still waiting for restitution how this all transpired. Nobody has responded, but records provide a partial explanation, which we’ll describe below.
Reagor remains in federal prison with an April 2033 projected release date after his conviction for making a false statement to a bank. Once Reagor was convicted, he was ordered to pay restitution – which is why prosecutors filed the lien.
LubbockLights.com broke the story that the home sold on April 15 according to the warranty deed filed with the county with the sale price remaining undisclosed. Click here to read our original coverage.
LubbockLights.com filed an open records request with the Tech System last month to get the purchase price. We’ll provide an update when possible.
The federal lien was dropped on April 16 and officially file-stamped at the county the next day.
The release of the lien said, “The United States hereby releases any interest it may have by virtue of the judgment lien in the property commonly known as 2809 19th St., Lubbock, TX, which is legally described in Attachment A. This partial release applies to no other property or assets of the defendant.”
LubbockLights.com reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice for a comment via email last week but we’ve not heard back yet. We also followed up by phone.
We also reached out the university system by phone and by email for comment for our original story.
Separate from the lien on the house, criminal case records showed prosecutors asked a judge to finalize a garnishment of more than $330,000 from Reagor and his wife from five different companies on April 20. (Two of the garnishments are for trust accounts with “available for distribution” values – meaning the full value of the accounts are available.)
In addition to the federal lien on the home, LubbockLights.com located four abstracts of judgment filed with the county – Ford Motor Credit Company (FMCC), Vista Bank, International Bank of Commerce and GM Financial/AmeriCredit.
The largest was FMCC for $49 million. FMCC sued Reagor and Rick Dykes shortly after the bankruptcy of the Reagor Dykes Auto Group. Dykes settled out of court. Reagor went to trial and lost a jury verdict.
Annette Reagor filed a demand with Lubbock County that FMCC drop its claim on the home (file-stamped on December 17). A few days before that Mrs. Reagor’s attorney sent a letter to FMCC.
Her legal team used a homestead exemption to clear the abstracts from private creditors. But that would not apply to the federal lien.
Mrs. Reagor chose not to comment, according to one of her attorneys (Jon Muschenheim).
A portion of the letter from Annette Reagor’s attorney to FMCC
Notice pursuant to Texas Property Code section 52.0012 and demand for release of judgment lien
My name is Dustin Graham Cox. I am an attorney with the Silberman Law Firm, and we have been retained to represent Annette Reagor. This letter is to inform you that on Monday, November 17, 2025, I filed and recorded a Homestead Affidavit as Release of Judgment Lien in the Official Public Records of Lubbock County, Texas, on Mrs. Reagor’s behalf.
This notice is provided to you in accordance with Texas Property Code Section 52.0012. The purpose of this filing is to declare that the real property described below is the homestead of our client, Annette Reagor, and to demand the release of the judgment lien held by the Ford Motor Credit Company, LLC.
Power of attorney
Reagor reported to prison in May 2022. The month before, he assigned power of attorney to his wife. The durable power of attorney included control of real estate transactions, personal property, stocks and bonds, banking, business, insurance, lawsuits, taxes and more.
Reagor’s children were named as successors to the power of attorney.
