A Chicago house-flipping enterprise is underneath hearth for allegedly scamming small-time buyers and preying on them by way of social media.
A number of folks have sued iFlip Chicago, claiming it lured inexperienced buyers into hard-money loans, WMAQ reported. The alleged scheme has had critical monetary penalties for dozens of Chicago households, and its alleged victims embody a licensed actual property agent and relations of iFlip’s co-founder.
The agency’s social media accounts promoted boot camps for potential buyers. Two ladies who attended the boot camps mentioned iFlip co-founder Ramo Bey requested them to hitch iFlip’s enterprise program.
This system was supposed to supply them up-front capital and determine distressed property, they advised the outlet. iFlip allegedly used lender funds to purchase and renovate properties, then oversee the initiatives and take 30 p.c of the revenue from the house gross sales.
“You don’t have to fret about hiring the contractor as a result of they’ve it. You don’t have to fret about actual property attorneys. You don’t have to fret about any of these things, as a result of they’ve all of those relationships,” mentioned Ameera Haamid, an emergency room physician who mentioned she was scammed by Bey, her cousin.
In actuality, she signed onto a high-interest short-term mortgage from Envision Funding, she mentioned. Bey advised Haamid his identify wanted to be on the loans for the lender to approve them, the alleged victims mentioned.
Properties in Woodlawn had been recognized by iFlip for Haamid and actual property agent Tatianna Barnett to purchase, individually, and so they every employed an actual property lawyer, Alex Ranjha, to signify them at closing, they mentioned. Nevertheless, they mentioned Ranjha — who was listed as a crew member on iFlip’s web site — didn’t warn them that the paperwork they had been signing would depart them on the hook for Bey’s money owed.
A “cross default and cross collateralization” clause meant that they’re tied to Bey’s different money owed with Envision Funding.
“It basically says that if anyone that’s signing on this mortgage has extra accounts with this lender, they will make the most of any of your funds to fulfill these overdue balances. And Ramo had a number of overdue balances,” Haamid mentioned.
Haamid and Barnett supplied monetary paperwork displaying that Bey’s money owed had been being charged to their accounts.
They mentioned they by no means acquired funds for his or her rehab initiatives, and the properties they purchased are sitting empty and dilapidated. Barnett mentioned she has misplaced $169,000.
Haamid mentioned she is afraid she might lose a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars}, and she or he is going through chapter and foreclosures. In the meantime, the debt retains racking up.
“Our payoff letter from December mentioned that we owe the mortgage firm $315,000, kind of, and that’s what we had been working off of. Nevertheless, once we requested that subsequent payoff letter in order that we might refinance exterior of them, we had been advised that we owe $375,000 as a result of the lender tacked on an extra $60,000 of debt from properties which have completely nothing to do with us,” Haamid mentioned.
Barnett and Haamid have sued iFLIP, Ranjha and Envision Funding, accusing them of client fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duties.
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