In 2019 I told you about the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Utah Division of Consumer Protection sued Zurixx, LLC, a company that pus on real estate seminars in which attendees were supposedly told how to make large amounts of money buying houses, quickly updating them and then reselling them at a substantial profit, a technique referred to commonly as “flipping.” The FTC alleged that Zurixx’s seminars were a scam. They started with a “free” seminar that really was merely a sales presentation for its three-day workshops that cost $1,997 despite Zuirxx’s representations that you would learn everything you needed to know to profitably flip houses from the “free seminar.” In fact, according to the FTC, even the three day workshops acted as a beginner course and people enrolling in the course were lured into paying as much as $41,297 for more detailed products and services.
Zurixx also partnered with familiar television real estate celebrities, such as Tarek and Christina El Moussa to give their scam an air of legitimacy.
Now the FTC and the Utah Division of Consumer Protection have settled their lawsuit with Zurixx LLC and its owners. Pursuant to the settlement, Zurixx will pay approximately 12 million dollars back to victims of their scam and be banned from presenting future real estate investment programs. As information becomes available in regard to the refunds, I will let you know.
TIPS
Always be wary of seminars that offer get rich quick schemes that indicate that little effort or investment by you is required. Do your research with the FTC and your state’s attorney general to see if there have been complaints against any company that puts on such seminars. As for flipping specifically, it is important to remember that the people you see doing this on television shows are experienced contractors and designers who do this full time and have done so for years. Flipping is not a simple job for part-timers. Additionally, the celebrity flippers you see on television also often get special prices for labor and materials by suppliers in return for the publicity they receive on the television shows. You won’t get those breaks.
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