Owed Money, not being paid back. Need Help, what to do?

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Hello Everyone,

I signed a contract to flip a house with a person I met that I invested about $30K with.

They told me that the person living there that was paying rent accepted a cash for keys agreement, so I then proceeded to meet, sign a contract, and then deposited the money to them.

Then after I gave the money, they tell me about a month later that it will take a long time to evict the tenant.

So they told me, I could get my money back quicker if I go to another investment with them. A whole year went by, with nothing but excuses.

This in now the 2 year anniversary of signing the original contract. They made an attempt to pay me $500 for 3 months as interest, but haven't paid me for awhile now. Everytime I call/text they don't answer, or when they do answer there is some sort of excuse they have.

My question is what should I do exactly? Anyone have experience with something similar?

I worry about this all the time, I just want my original investment back.

Thank you very much for your time in helping me figure this out.