Articles Tagged with Non-Traded Reits

shutterstock_178801067-300x200The securities lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating investor losses in American Finance Trust, a non-traded real estate investment trust (Non-Traded REIT).  According to the firm’s website, American Finance Trust is designed to protect shareholder capital and produce stable cash distributions through the acquisition and management of diversified portfolio of commercial properties leased to investment grade tenants.  The portfolio consists of core retail properties such as power centers and lifestyle centers.

According to a secondary market providers which allow investors to bid and sell illiquid products such as Non-Traded REITs, American Finance Trust sells for just under $15.50 per share – a significant loss on the original purchase price of $25.00.

Our firm often handles cases involving direct participation products (DPPs), private placements, Non-Traded REITs, and other alternative investments.  These products are almost always unsuitable for middle class investors.  In addition, the brokers who sell them are paid additional commission in order to hype inferior quality investments providing perverse incentives for brokers to sell high risk and low reward investments.

shutterstock_34872913-300x209Former Newbridge Securities Corporation (Newbridge) broker Austin Dutton (Dutton) has been subject to two complaints and a recent sanction citing dishonest or unethical practices in the securities business by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities and fining Dutton $200,000.  According to a BrokerCheck report Dutton recommended the purchase of a security to at least one customer without reasonable grounds to believe that the transaction was suitable for the customer.

In addition, Dutton’s firm, Newbridge, was also sanctioned by the state of Pennsylvania on findings that “From in or about January 2012 until December 2016, Newbridge did not maintain a reasonable system for applying and enforcing written procedures pertaining to their sales of structured products by one agent in Pennsylvania to certain of his clients…”  While The order does not name the broker it appears reasonably related to Dutton.

According to newssources, Dutton is known to have recommended and sold and direct participation products (DPPs) such as non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs).  In particular Dutton sold real estate investment trusts formerly managed by Nicholas Schorsch’s private firm, American Realty Capital (ARC), now AR Global.  An accounting scandal affected ARC and its REITs.  According to sources, Dutton sold these products to retirees and police officers.

shutterstock_175835072-300x199The securities lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating investor losses in American Realty Capital Hospitality Trust Inc. (Hospitality Trust), a non-traded real estate investment trust (Non-Traded REIT).  The company then changed its name to Hospitality Investors Trust Inc.

Hospitality Trust acquires select-service lodging properties and brand national hotel.  Hospitality Trust initial offering was January 2014 and raised $911 million.  Hospitality Trust suspended dividend distributions in January 2017 and is not currently offering a redemption plan to shareholders trapping investors in the product.

According to a secondary market providers which allow investors to bid and sell illiquid products such as Non-Traded REITs, Hospitality Trust sells for just $10.50 per share – a significant loss on the original purchase price of $25.00.

shutterstock_183554579-300x200The securities fraud lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating customer complaints filed with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) against current FSC Securities Corporation (FSC Securities) broker Brian Presley (Presley). According to BrokerCheck records, Presley has spent 34 years in the securities industry and is currently located in Punta Gorda, Florida operating under the d/b/a The Presley Advisory.  Over his career, Presley has been the subject of at least eight customer complaints and two regulatory actions.

The most recent complaint was filed in August 2015 alleging that Presley breached his duties to his clients in illiquid investments including oil and gas and non-traded REIT’s.  The customer alleged $117,000 in damages.  The claim has been settled.  Many of Presley’s other customer complaints similarly allege damages resulting from the sale of alternative investment products.

Our firm often handles cases involving direct participation products (DPPs) and private placements including oil and gas partnerships, non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), and other alternative investments.

shutterstock_54385804Our investment attorneys are investigating customer complaints filed with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against David White (White) currently associated with Centaurus Financial, Inc. (Centaurus) alleging unsuitable investments and breach of fiduciary duty among other claims.  According to brokercheck records White has been subject to eleven customer complaints.  Many of the complaints involve direct participation products (DPPs) such as non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other alternative investments.

Our firm has experience representing investment fraud victims with these investments against Centaurus.  See Gana Weinstein LLP Wins Arbitration Award On Behalf of Client Against Centaurus Financial.  In that case, the Claimant alleged that the broker involved invested over $2,000,000 in exclusively high cost products and 50% of those investments were in alternative investments such as private placements, oil and gas partnerships, and REITs.  The other 50% was invested in variable and equity-indexed annuities.  The panel found that “the investments Hashemian recommended while at Centaurus were not suitable and in [Claimant’s] best interests. [Claimant] also provided sufficient evidence to meet her burden of proof to support her allegations in her Statement of Claim that the actions by Hashemian, for which Centaurus is responsible, constitute fraudulent and negligently made material misrepresentations and omitted material information in the sale of the investments to [Claimant].”  Award Can Be Found Here.

Our firm has represented many clients in illiquid alternative investments products.  All of these investments come with high costs and have historically underperformed even safe benchmarks, like U.S. treasury bonds.  For example, products like oil and gas partnerships, REITs, and other alternative investments are only appropriate for a narrow band of investors under certain conditions due to the high costs, illiquidity, and huge redemption charges of the products, if they can be redeemed at all.  However, due to the high commissions brokers earn on these products they sell them to investors who cannot profit from them and have created a large market for a failed product.  Further, investor often fail to understand that they have lost money in these illiquid investments until many years after investing.  In sum, for all of their costs and risks, investors in these programs are in no way additionally compensated for the loss of liquidity, risks, or cost.

shutterstock_128655458The securities fraud lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating customer complaints and regulatory actions filed with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) against broker Richard Poston (Poston). According to BrokerCheck records, Poston has spent 20 years in the securities industry and was most recently registered with H. Beck, Inc. (H. Beck) in Plano, Texas.  Poston is currently not licensed to act as a broker or an investment adviser.  Over his career, Poston has been the subject of at least four customer complaints, one regulatory investigation, one employment separation for cause, and one bankruptcy.

The most recent regulatory investigation was filed in December 2015 by FINRA alleging potential violations of FINRA Rules 2010, 2150, 3240, and 8210. These rules revolve around standards of commercial honor and equitable principles of trade, improper use of customers’ securities or funds, the borrowing or lending money from or to any customer without written approval.

The most recent complaint was filed in March 2016 while employed at H. Beck alleging that Poston, from October 2007, until September 2015 made unsuitable concentrated and illiquid investments in non-traded REIT’s.  The claim is currently pending.

shutterstock_189496604The securities lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating a complaint filed by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against brokerage firm VFG Securities, Inc. (VFG) and its CEO Jason Vanclef (Vanclef) (FINRA No. 2013038283001).  The complaint alleges that approximately 95 percent of VFG’s revenue was obtained from the sale of non-traded direct participation products (DPPs) and non-traded REITs and other alternative investments such as equipment leasing programs and oil & gas private placements between approximately November 2010 and June 2012.  Even though alternative investments are highly speculative and illiquid investments that have little to no place in the average investor’s portfolio, FINRA alleged that VFG failed to reasonably supervise the sale of illiquid alternative investments, including non-traded DPPs and non-traded REITs, to ensure that customers did not become overly concentrated in these products.

According to FINRA, VFG’s alternative investment strategy comes from a book distributed by the firm to customers and authored by Vanclef entitled Wealth Code: How the Rich Stay Rich in Good Times and Bad (The Wealth Code).  FINRA found that Vanclef used The Wealth Code as sales literature to promote investments in non-traded DPPs and non-traded REITs, and to lure potential investors to VFG.  FINRA claims that Vanclef repeatedly claimed in The Wealth Code that non-traded DPPs and non-traded REITs offer both high return and capital preservation among other claims.  However, FINRA has found that the these claims are false, inaccurate, misleading, and contradicted information provided in the prospectuses of the products that Vanclef and VFG sold.

FINRA stated that non-traded DPPs and non-traded REITs are speculative investments that contain a high degree of risk, including the risk that an investor may lose a substantial portion or all of his or her initial investment.  Yet, Vanclef claimed in The Wealth Code that by investing in “real” or “tangible” assets and other instruments that he recommended, investors could “reasonably achieve 8-12% results,” on their investments and “get consistent returns” that provided “piece [sic] of mind.”

shutterstock_20354398The securities lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating a complaint filed by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against broker Gopi Krishna Vungarala (Vungarala) and his brokerage firm Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments (Purshe Kaplan). FINRA alleged that from at least June 2011 through January 2015, Vungarala regularly lied to his customer who is a Native American tribe regarding commissions paid to the broker and firm on non-traded real estate investment trusts (Non-Traded REITs) and business development companies (BDCs).

Vungarala served the tribe as both a financial advisor and was employed by the tribe as its Treasury Investment Manager and participated in decisions regarding the tribe’s investments. According to FINRA, Vungarala knew that the tribe prohibited employees such as Vungarala from engaging in business activities that could constitute a conflict of interest with the tribe. In order to induce the tribe to make purchases in Non-Traded REITs and BDCs in light of the prohibition against conflicts of interests Vungarala falsely represented to the tribe that he would not receive any commissions on the purchases. Despite the prohibition and the representations, FINRA alleged that Vungarala fraudulently induced the tribe to invest $190 million of dollars in Non-Traded REITs and BDCs without revealing that he and his firm received commissions on the sales at a typical rate of 7% generating $11.4 million in commissions for Purshe Kaplan of which $9.6 million was paid to Vungarala.

Worse still, FINRA alleged that the tribe was eligible to receive volume discounts on the products purchased but instead paid full commission. FINRA alleged that Purshe Kaplan’s supervisory failures led to the volume discounts not being applied. FINRA alleged that the tribe failed to receive more than $3.3 million in volume discounts and that these funds funds were instead paid to Purshe Kaplan and Vungarala in the form of commissions.

shutterstock_162924044The securities lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating customer complaints against broker Howard Slater (Slater). In addition, The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) brought an enforcement action (FINRA No. 2015046156301) against Slater. There are at least 18 customer complaints against Slater and 2 regulatory actions. The customer complaints against Slater allege a number of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, misrepresentations, negligence, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and unauthorized trading among other claims.

The most recent customer complaint was filed in November 2013 and alleges unsuitable investments, fraud, and negligence concerning investments in alternative investments in real estate investments. The complaint seeks $90,000 in damages. In another complaint filed in July 2013, a customer complained that Slater misinformed her regarding the risks of three non-traded real estate investment trusts (Non-Traded REITs).

In a FINRA regulatory action against Slater, the agency alleged that in February 2008 and August 2008, Slater sent emails to two customers in connection with their purchases of IMH Secured Loan Fund, LLC (IMH Fund) that contained misrepresentations regarding the features of the IMH Fund. In addition, according to FINRA, in March 2008, Slater sent an email to a customer that contained exaggerated and misleading statements about the safety of the IMH Fund. Finally, FINRA found that in April 2008, Slater caused an SAI customer’s account records to reflect false annual income and net worth information that caused the business records maintained by his firm to be inaccurate.

shutterstock_153463763According to the BrokerCheck records kept by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker Robert Horning (Horning) has been the subject of at least 8 customer complaints. Customers have filed complaints against Horning alleging a number of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, misrepresentations, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and false statements in connection with recommendations to invest in private placements such as tenants-in-common (TICs) interests, direct participation programs and limited partnerships which include investments like oil & gas, non-traded real estate investment trusts (Non-Traded REITs), and equipment leasing programs.

Horning entered the securities industry in 1993. From November 2004, until July 2009, Horning was a registered representative with Direct Capital Securities, Inc. Thereafter, since July 2009, Horning has been associated with Centaurus Financial, Inc. (Centaurus) out of the firm’s Los Angeles, California office location.

TIC investments have come under fire by many investors. Indeed, due to the failure of the TIC investment strategy as a whole across the securities industry, TIC investments have virtually disappeared as offered investments.   According to InvestmentNews “At the height of the TIC market in 2006, 71 sponsors raised $3.65 billion in equity from TICs and DSTs…TICs now are all but extinct because of the fallout from the credit crisis.” In fact, TICs recommendations have been a major contributor to bankrupting brokerage firms. For example, 43 of the 92 broker-dealers that sold TICs sponsored by DBSI Inc., a company whose executives were later charged with running a Ponzi scheme, a staggering 47% of firms that sold DBSI are no longer in business.

Contact Information