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James Wise#1 Classifieds Contributor
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH
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Clayton Morris seeks over $7 Million from James Wise for Film

James Wise#1 Classifieds Contributor
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH
Posted Dec 6 2019, 10:02

Clayton Morris is seeking $7,176,000 in damages from me & HoltonWiseTV for releasing the documentary about the Real Estate scam allegations involving him, Morris Invest & recently indicted Bert Whalen.

Account Closed
  • Fairfax, MO
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Account Closed
  • Fairfax, MO
Replied Dec 6 2019, 10:26
You have got to be kidding me...
Account Closed
  • Fairfax, MO
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Account Closed
  • Fairfax, MO
Replied Dec 6 2019, 10:54
Send him a box of tissues for the mental distress you've caused him James. That ought to cover the damages...
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Marc Winter
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Northeast PA
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Marc Winter
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Northeast PA
Replied Dec 6 2019, 11:11

Can't make enough money off of one 'allegedly' worthless scam, sue one of the guys that expose you!

"It was really cold out today"  "Really?  How cold was it?"

"I saw a lawyer walking down the street with his hands in his own pockets!"

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Joe Splitrock
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  • Rental Property Investor
  • Sioux Falls, SD
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Joe Splitrock
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  • Sioux Falls, SD
ModeratorReplied Dec 6 2019, 11:31

@James Wise wow that is crazy the amount of money he is making. He was getting $20,000 per speaking engagement and $500,000 for 6 months of podcasts? No wonder so many guru stop investing in rental property and focus on speaking, podcasts and education.

His Google search must work differently than mine, because the only top page result that is negative I see is from the Indy Star. If you search videos, yes. 

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  • Fairfax, MO
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Account Closed
  • Fairfax, MO
Replied Dec 6 2019, 11:36

Shouldn't he be suing the Indy Star and New York Post (or Times or whatever) as well then?

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James Wise#1 Classifieds Contributor
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  • Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH
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James Wise#1 Classifieds Contributor
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH
Replied Dec 6 2019, 11:40
Originally posted by @Marc Winter:

Can't make enough money off of one 'allegedly' worthless scam, sue one of the guys that expose you!

"It was really cold out today"  "Really?  How cold was it?"

"I saw a lawyer walking down the street with his hands in his own pockets!"

 Lol that's a pretty good one. I may use that from time to time.

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Frank Geiger
  • Rental Property Investor
  • North Carolina
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Frank Geiger
  • Rental Property Investor
  • North Carolina
Replied Dec 6 2019, 12:10

Wow... are you not protected by free speech? Hope you have a good lawyer. 

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Steve K.
  • Realtor
  • Boulder, CO
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Steve K.
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  • Boulder, CO
Replied Dec 6 2019, 12:27

$450k for mental distress? Life sounds hard on those mean beaches of Portugal. 

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James Wise#1 Classifieds Contributor
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  • Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH
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James Wise#1 Classifieds Contributor
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH
Replied Dec 6 2019, 12:31
Originally posted by @Steve K.:

$450k for mental distress? Life sounds hard on those mean beaches of Portugal. 

 How amazing would it be if I somehow lost this lawsuit but instead of paying the $7 Million, I just moved to Portugal?

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Steve K.
  • Realtor
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Steve K.
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  • Boulder, CO
Replied Dec 6 2019, 12:34

Poetic justice indeed. You guys could be neighbors.

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Sherif Lyons
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  • seattle
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Sherif Lyons
  • Property Manager
  • seattle
Replied Dec 6 2019, 12:39
Originally posted by @James Wise:
Originally posted by @Steve K.:

$450k for mental distress? Life sounds hard on those mean beaches of Portugal. 

 How amazing would it be if I somehow lost this lawsuit but instead of paying the $7 Million, I just moved to Portugal?

 CAN you even lose? will this even pass the laugh test in the courtroom?

Account Closed
  • Fairfax, MO
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Account Closed
  • Fairfax, MO
Replied Dec 6 2019, 12:53

Here's what I'd like to know. So Clayton is claiming he lost out on a speaking engagement in Philadelphia due to it being canceled. I never believed that it was a real event to begin with. I always thought it was made up. So my question is: can it be proved that the event was real and that in fact he was being paid $20,000 to speak?

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Sherif Lyons
  • Property Manager
  • seattle
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Sherif Lyons
  • Property Manager
  • seattle
Replied Dec 6 2019, 13:01
Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Here's what I'd like to know. So Clayton is claiming he lost out on a speaking engagement in Philadelphia due to it being canceled. I never believed that it was a real event to begin with. I always thought it was made up. So my question is: can it be proved that the event was real and that in fact he was being paid $20,000 to speak?

 I would believe a single call to the venue staff could do so.

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Karl B.
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Erie, PA
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Karl B.
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Erie, PA
Replied Dec 6 2019, 13:25

Next Clayton Morris will try and sue anyone who dislikes any of his Youtube videos or comments something he doesn't like. 

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Kristopher Hanks
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  • Davenport, FL
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Kristopher Hanks
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  • Davenport, FL
Replied Dec 6 2019, 13:53

@James Wise

He has to fund his retirement in Portugal somehow.... Might as well have you fund it, right?!

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James Wise#1 Classifieds Contributor
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH
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James Wise#1 Classifieds Contributor
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH
Replied Dec 6 2019, 14:43

Realized I missed posting the 3rd page on this. Here are all 3 pages.

Account Closed
  • Fairfax, MO
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Account Closed
  • Fairfax, MO
Replied Dec 6 2019, 15:05

I don't know James - that's a pretty generous offer. That's awfully kind of Morris to take such a discount off the settlement. He's such a nice guy!

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Lynnette E.
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Tennessee
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Lynnette E.
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Tennessee
Replied Dec 6 2019, 18:45
Originally posted by @James Wise:
Originally posted by @Steve K.:

$450k for mental distress? Life sounds hard on those mean beaches of Portugal. 

 How amazing would it be if I somehow lost this lawsuit but instead of paying the $7 Million, I just moved to Portugal?

 I think you should buy the property next door to his house and use it as an Air BNB until you decide to move there.

And in your counter claim to his law suit ask for a per cent of the take he will get when he does the "I was a con man, and now I am reformed and will tell you how to avoid being taken by a smooth talking con"  series of videos and conferences...since you are helping him come clean.

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Lynnette E.
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Tennessee
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Lynnette E.
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Tennessee
Replied Dec 6 2019, 18:53

$1.2 million to settle, you could probably get that reduced to nothing if you are willing to sell your soul and remove it by Christmas!

I want you to do an expose on all the alleged deals he lost and ask them if they did have a deal, and if so did they cancel because of the potential criminal acts of your plaintiff or because they watched your video...and if they even knew you had a video at the time they cancelled...

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Account Closed
  • Houston, TX
Replied Dec 7 2019, 06:01

It's interesting to make a documentary about someone scamming when your business model is literally bait and switch. 

I reached out about some properties you have advertised everywhere as "for sale" but was told I can't buy them yet because "the videos aren't ready" to be sent out to your social media and newsletter so you can create bidding wars and drive up the price. 

I told her I want to pay the price you have literally have listed as "FOR SALE" and she told me in short form no sorry you have to be a part of the bidding war.

What business behaviour do you consider a scam?

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James Wise#1 Classifieds Contributor
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH
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James Wise#1 Classifieds Contributor
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH
Replied Dec 7 2019, 06:56
Originally posted by @Account Closed:

It's interesting to make a documentary about someone scamming when your business model is literally bait and switch. 

I reached out about some properties you have advertised everywhere as "for sale" but was told I can't buy them yet because "the videos aren't ready" to be sent out to your social media and newsletter so you can create bidding wars and drive up the price. 

I told her I want to pay the price you have literally have listed as "FOR SALE" and she told me in short form no sorry you have to be a part of the bidding war.

What business behaviour do you consider a scam?

Well...I am going to guess you are brand new to this business so I am going to go ahead and give you a pass on just how ignorant your accusation is and walk you through a few points so that in the future you do not offend any other brokers or sellers who may not be willing to give you a pass.

1. Pre-Marketing is an industry norm. It's not even limited to real estate sales actually. All sales involve pre-marketing. Think of the Cyber Truck from Tesla or every new version of the I phone. Most all products are marketed before their initial launch. This is marketing sales and marketing 101. Movies are the same way. They are advertised long before the date that you can go watch them in the theater or on Netflix.

 2. What do you think the job of a real estate broker is, if it's not to get their seller's the best deal for their properties? Do you think I became the number 1 seller of rental property in Cleveland, Ohio because I do anything other than market my seller's properties to the best of my ability and get them the best possible price? As you navigate through real estate investing it's important for you to know who you are speaking to and what exactly their job is. Only when you know this, will you be able to begin to judge if they are doing their job well or not.

3. You asked me "what business behavior do you consider a scam?" Are you familiar with this film and all of the coverage that preceded it? If not you should go through all of that and come back here to explain why you think anything I described above is remotely similar to the coverage of this situation.

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Jay Hinrichs
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  • Lake Oswego OR Summerlin, NV
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Jay Hinrichs
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Replied Dec 7 2019, 07:21
Originally posted by @Joe Splitrock:

@James Wise wow that is crazy the amount of money he is making. He was getting $20,000 per speaking engagement and $500,000 for 6 months of podcasts? No wonder so many guru stop investing in rental property and focus on speaking, podcasts and education.

His Google search must work differently than mine, because the only top page result that is negative I see is from the Indy Star. If you search videos, yes. 

Yup the top gurus I know personally can knock down 5 to 10  mil a year  if you have a full blown operation.. IE  Feeder events that sell into the 5 day training then the mentorship after that etc etc.. the figure heads like Christina and Tarek those type of folks that have nothing to do with the day to day and just lend their name can make easily 1 to 2 mil a year..  its nothing different than sports stars getting sponsor like Nike.. those guys sign 20 mil contracts annually.. its the business real estate is just another avenue.  Having lived in Napa Valley for as long as I did I got pretty familiar with the wine business. and one of my mentors owned a winery and he made the Arnold Palmer label.. Arnold just lent his name and made 5 bucks or so a case.. not huge money but for the winery they get to sell a heck of a lot more wine than they would normally.. Now Andretti he actually owns his winery.. so it can go both ways.

AS for this lawsuit no one likes litigation and I don't really know what kind of exposure we all have when we publicly give our opinions of this person or his business model..  Anyone can sue anyone.. and of course we know the plaintiff is nicely tucked away in Portugal . Which from his point of view was probably a smart move..  others see it as an admission of guilt and running away.

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Jay Hinrichs
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Jay Hinrichs
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Replied Dec 7 2019, 07:24
Originally posted by @Lynnette E.:
Originally posted by @James Wise:
Originally posted by @Steve K.:

$450k for mental distress? Life sounds hard on those mean beaches of Portugal. 

 How amazing would it be if I somehow lost this lawsuit but instead of paying the $7 Million, I just moved to Portugal?

 I think you should buy the property next door to his house and use it as an Air BNB until you decide to move there.

And in your counter claim to his law suit ask for a per cent of the take he will get when he does the "I was a con man, and now I am reformed and will tell you how to avoid being taken by a smooth talking con"  series of videos and conferences...since you are helping him come clean.

your statement reminds me of the American greed episode were a former villain became crime fighter and took on Lennar corp.. he got his butt handed to him at the end of the day.

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Jim K.#2 Investor Mindset Contributor
  • Handyman
  • Pittsburgh, PA
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Jim K.#2 Investor Mindset Contributor
  • Handyman
  • Pittsburgh, PA
Replied Dec 7 2019, 07:46

I'm not seeing how the boy doesn't run out of money soon with this kind of monkey business. What's he paying to file these lawsuits? How much does he have left in the bank? I really can't imagine the Morrises as European champions of frugality. Sure, we've talked about it before, but this is, what, four in a row?

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James Wise#1 Classifieds Contributor
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  • Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH
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James Wise#1 Classifieds Contributor
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH
Replied Dec 7 2019, 07:49
Originally posted by @Jim K.:

I'm not seeing how the boy doesn't run out of money soon with this kind of monkey business. What's he paying to file these lawsuits? How much does he have left in the bank? I really can't imagine the Morrises as European champions of frugality.

 At this point in the case costs are still pretty low. It's when you've got to start paying the attorney's to fly into Cleveland that it gets pricey. I think he's still holding onto the hope that he can scare me into agreeing to pull down the video.