How to go after Growth Equity Group-Brett Immel, Preston Despenas

[Kathy Fettke]

Hi everyone, 

I really should know the answer to this. The obvious answer is to sue when someone has committed fraud. Unfortunately, that is an expensive time-consuming process. And when the company you're suing has shut down and apparently has no money, is it even worth the effort?

I happen to know that Preston Despenas, one of the partners of Growth Equity Group, is still doing real estate in Texas. I also heard Brett Immel was still doing business in Iowa, though I read an article that says he has been busted for lying during a bankruptcy hearing and may go to prison for 5 years.

Would it make sense to contact the S.E.C.? Any other government agency?

Basically, what these guys did to some of our Real Wealth Network members allegedly is:

- GEG showed RWN some of the properties they had renovated and leased out to prove their business model

- They told our members via a webinar that they buy, renovate and sell rental properties below market value to investors with 8% cash flow

- They said they offer non-recourse financing at 50% LTV

In reality, GEG sold properties that were not always renovated - even if the price point reflected a renovation. The non-recourse lender was actually the original seller who was financing - GEG was the middleman making a HUGE markup. GEG gave investors inspection and appraisal reports. (Unfortunately, the investor fell for this gimmick and did NOT get their own 3rd party inspections, appraisals or even visit the properties they were buying, against our best efforts to encourage proper due diligence and follow our check list for their own protection.)

So now some people are stuck with properties worth half what they paid (not all RWN members), with no renovation done, and constant repairs and vacancies. The problem is, they never got their own inspections or appraisals so how do they actually know if the renovation was done or not? 

I threatened GEG that we would go very public with this if they didn't fix the situation, and they said, "Go for it. We did nothing wrong." They claim the repairs were done and that the properties were worth more at the time of purchase but that the area has deteriorated since then.

Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated!