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FTC Halts ‘Misleading’ and “Bogus” Seminars

The entire reason that the institute was founded was to bring to it’s members high-quality real estate, note, and priveate lending information at a low, reasonable price. Many people are lured to “free” seminars where they pay thousands of dollars to get little to know actionable information. Giving people a great alternative to these seminars is why we were created.” The following is an article from the Associated Press that we thought you would find interesting:

By Joseph Pisani, The Associated Press: A Federal Court temporarily stopped Zurixx LLC from promoting free real estate events endorsed by HGTV Stars including Tarek El Moussa and Christina Anstead of “Flip or Flop” fame. In its complaint Friday, the FTC said that Utah-based Zurixx LLC would hold free real estate events endorsed by HGTV stars, including Tarek El Moussa and Christina Anstead of Flip or Flop fame. But at the events, attendees would be asked to pay for another three-day class that cost $1,997. And those who paid for those classes would be taught how to apply for new credit cards and increase the credit limits on existing cards. Then, according to the FTC, instructors would suggest using the credit to pay for additional training that cost more than $41,000.

When customers complained, the FTC said Zurixx would offer refunds, but only if customers signed an agreement barring them from writing negative reviews or speaking to regulators.

Zurixx said in a statement that it welcomes the scrutiny and anticipates “a positive outcome as we work directly and openly with the agencies involved.”

HGTV did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2016, The Associated Press spoke to about a dozen people who took classes by Zurixx, saying that they were pushed to buy pricey classes, but learned very little about the real estate business.

In addition to halting the business, Zurixx’s assets were frozen, which could potentially be used to refund customers. The FTC typically asks courts to halt businesses in order to investigate them further.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press, Joseph Pisani. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.