A San Diego law firm said it filed a class action lawsuit Tuesday against Tarragon Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of Tarragon's common stock between January 5, 2005, and Aug. 9, 2007. Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP alleges Tarragon and certain of its officers and directors issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the company's business and financial results.

A Tarragon spokesman said it's the company's policy not to comment on pending litigation.

The complaint claims Tarragon stock traded at artificially inflated prices, reaching a high of $26.76 a share on July 22, 2005, as a result of defendants' false statements. The stock then fell, reaching 94 cents a share on Aug. 9, when Tarragon said its quarterly report would be delayed to give the company time to evaluate more than $125 million in property impairment charges and other write-downs made necessary by its decision to sell properties under adverse market conditions.

Tarragon and its subsidiaries are active in the Northeast, Florida, Texas and Tennessee.

Fort Lauderdale-based subsidiary Tarragon South is the developer of Las Olas River House, a high-rise in downtown Fort Lauderdale that was completed last year, but still has at least 22 units up for sale; and a planned mixed-use project with a condo tower on the site of the Gay & Lesbian Community Center on Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.

Tarragon is also an equity partner with Coscan Homes in Orchid Grove, a condo and townhouse community under construction in Pompano Beach.