Walker v. Return to the Land: Claims, Counsel, and Case Status

The lawsuit Walker v. Return to the Land was filed May 20, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas by Michelle Walker, a St. Louis-area real estate broker, against a whites-only housing community in rural Arkansas and five of its officers. Walker alleges the group refused to sell her land because of her Jewish ancestry, her Black husband, and her biracial children, in violation of federal and Arkansas fair housing and civil rights laws.¹

How the Application Was Handled

Walker applied to buy land at Return to the Land’s 160-acre settlement near Ravenden, Arkansas, a town of roughly 400 in the Ozarks. According to the complaint, the intake process screened for race and religion. She was asked about her ancestry, asked to submit a video “to confirm that she appeared white,” and asked whether she belonged to any white nationalist organizations. After an initial interview, she was told she “should not expect her application to be approved,” and her application portal was later updated to say she was “not an ideal fit.”¹

The Community and Its Officers

Return to the Land was co-founded in 2023 by Eric Orwoll and Peter Csereby and describes itself as a private membership association. As of August 2025 it had about 40 residents and sold land at roughly $1,000 per acre, with members buying in through LLC shares rather than traditional deeds.²³ Applicants must identify with European heritage, and the group excludes Black people, Jewish people, and LGBTQ people. Orwoll has publicly described the settlement as a “fortress for the white race.” He has argued the group’s practices are protected by a right to “freely associate” on private land, and told reporters in 2025: “We’ll get sued, we’ll get fined, things will happen. That’s why we’re talking to lawyers now and getting ready for it.”

The complaint, docketed as Case No. 3:26-cv-00151-DPM, names Return to the Land and its Ozarks chapter along with five individual defendants: Eric Orwoll, president and co-founder; Peter Julius Csere, co-founder and manager; Gavin Baker, co-founder and manager; Peter Neugebauer, co-founder and manager; and Scott Thomas Hallowood, co-founder and vice president.⁴

The Legal Claims

Walker’s complaint alleges violations of:

the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in the sale of housing based on race, religion, and familial status;
the Civil Rights Act of 1866, specifically Sections 1981, 1982, and 1985, which guarantee equal rights to make contracts and purchase property;
the Arkansas Fair Housing Act and the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993, the state analogs to the federal statutes.⁵

Walker is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and an injunction barring the organization from continuing its discriminatory housing practices.²

Who Represents Walker

Lead counsel is the Washington, D.C. civil rights firm Relman Colfax PLLC, through co-managing partner Reed Colfax and founding partner John Relman. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Legal Aid of Arkansas are co-counsel. Colfax called the defendants’ conduct “blatant and brazen violations of long-standing federal and state fair housing laws.” Jason Bailey, senior counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, said the group was trying to “revive housing policies and practices from one of America’s darkest eras” and that racial and religious exclusion in housing “cannot be squared with the Fair Housing Act.”⁶

Where the Case Stands

As of mid-2026 the case is in its earliest stages. There is no public record of the defendants responding to the complaint, filing motions, or entering a scheduling order.⁵ CNN reported it reached out to Orwoll for comment and did not receive a response.² Separately, the Arkansas Attorney General’s office has been reviewing whether Return to the Land is violating state and federal law; no update on that review has been made public.³

1
NBC News. Suit Targets Whites-Only Arkansas Community Applicant
2
CNN. Arkansas Return to the Land Discrimination Lawsuit
3
Times of Israel. Return to the Land White Supremacists Building Whites-Only Settlement in Arkansas
4
NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Walker v. Return to the Land Complaint
5
Relman Colfax PLLC. Michelle Walker v. Return to the Land
6
NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Civil Rights Organizations File Lawsuit Against Whites-Only Housing Development in Arkansas