Victims of Real Estate Scam Featuring HGTV Stars to Receive Millions in Refunds

Eight years after HGTV stars Tarek El Moussa and Christina Hall were first accused of promoting a fraudulent house-flipping training program, victims have begun receiving $12 million in refunds from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

On July 31, 2024, the FTC announced that it will send refunds to thousands of consumers who paid Zurixx, LLC for real estate investment seminars that promised students would earn large profits by following its strategies for flipping houses. The beginning course cost customers $1,997, per the FTC, but some people paid much more to access additional trainings.

Previously married El Moussa and Hall, who rose to fame on their HGTV show “Flip or Flop,” were among the home improvement experts who promoted the three-day trainings. The FTC said promotional materials led customers to believe they’d achieve “big profits” using the celebrities’ strategies for flipping homes — the practice of purchasing outdated or dilapidated homes, then quickly remodeling and re-selling the properties for a profit.

The FTC said other celebrities who promoted similar trainings led by Zurixx included Hilary Farr of HGTV’s “Love It or List It” as well as Peter Souhleris and Dave Seymour from A&E’s “Flipping Boston.”

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Christina Hall Defended Training Seminar in 2016: ‘It’s Our System’

The path to redemption for thousands of people who invested in flipping seminars led by Zurixx has been a long one, dating back to 2016.

When ABC News first reported on consumer complaints about the program in October of that year, Hall — who was still married but secretly separated from El Moussa at the time, per People — defended their “Success, Path, Education” program held in multiple cities.

“I stand by our product,” she told ABC at the time. “It’s our tools, it’s our system. It’s what Tarek and I do. I’ve only heard very minimal complaints.”

However, ABC found in 2016 that the Better Business Bureau had received 150 complaints about one of the trainings held in St. Louis, which Hall said she had attended. In a statement, Zurixx told ABC that statistically, receiving 150 complaints out of 374,000 students across the U.S. and Canada was “extremely low.”

Though El Moussa and Hall didn’t attend every training, Hall told ABC they were heavily involved in ensuring the quality of the course, saying, “This is our program. We meet each and every coach, we do training with them one-on-one. Tarek does tons of training via webinar.”

Farr, meanwhile, began promoting similar seminars in 2017 called “Rules of Renovation,” per Celebrity Net Worth, which consumers began complaining about as they noticed similar tactics being used as at the “Success Path Education” trainings.

After investigating the company and consumer complaints, the FTC and the Utah Department of Commerce Division of Consumer Protection (UDCP)  sued Zurixx and its owners in September 2019 and barred them from continuing to teach or promote the programs.

FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection director Andrew Smith said in a statement at the time, “From start to finish, these defendants used the promise of easy money and in-depth information to lure consumers down a path that could cost them thousands of dollars and put them in serious debt.”

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FTC Has Begun Sending Checks to Over 25,000 Consumers Who Invested in House-Flipping Scheme

According to the FTC and UDCP, consumers were invited to free informational seminars, and were then pressured to invest in a three-day training for $1,997, with additional courses costing much more — as much as $41,297.

Attendees were even told to open new credit cards to pay for the trainings, the FTC said, and presenters at the trainings promised that that the profits they’d soon make from flipping or wholesaling homes would pay off the debt.

In February 2022, the FTC announced it had reached a settlement with Zurixx and its owners over what it called their “massive real estate investment coaching scheme,” permanently banning them from operating any similar programs and announcing that victims would receive $12 million in refunds.

In the settlement judgements approved by U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, per the FTC, each of Zurixx’s owners were ordered to pay $2.33 million in damages. Though the settlement also included a monetary judgement of $104.7 million against Zurixx and its group of corporate investors, all of the corporations involved were defunct by that time with assets totaling just $5 million.

Two years later, on July 31, the FTC said it will now send checks to 25,563 consumers who invested in Zurixx’s home-flipping trainings. Checks must be cashed within 90 days and consumers with questions can contact JND Legal Administration at 888-906-0593 or visit the FTC website to view frequently asked questions about the refund process.

None of the celebrities involved were implicated in the suit, nor have they commented publicly on the FTC’s refunds.

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