Fortune Foreclosures LLC-DJ Thielen

[Arturo Colmenero]

I'm considering investing in a property through Fortune Foreclosures and DJ Thielen.  Anyone had any experience investing with this group?  Thanks in advance for your responses.  

God bless,

Arturo 

[Tyler Hubbs]

@Arturo Colmenero do not! SCAM!!!

[Alfonso Inclan]

In my case, working with DJ Thielen and Fortune Foreclosures, LLC has been a real pain.

Even though I raised $13M for him from my private investors, he couldn't close anything in 5 months.

That was our deal: I had the cash buyers, and he had the properties... it was supposed to be a good deal.

When he saw my interest in help him to close deals, he proposed me to become his acquisition manager in July 2020, but since the first day in his system, I noticed that he didn't have any properties for sale, nor any marketing in place and no sales.

I proposed to start a marketing campaign, which he had to pay (of course), but he got offended. 

He wanted to ask his academy members to provide the properties (for free)... but no one was doing anything at all.

Then, finally I was to close a deal with him with one of my buyers, when he told me he doesn't want to pay my split fee that we already agreed!

He wanted to keep all the profits for himself. And that it was not optional. What a guy!

When I told him that I was filing some complaints, he offered $1,250 upfront, then $2,500... when my split fee was $7,500.

Now he wants to sue me because I said I would disclose this situation online if he didn't pay me.

Even though he appears to be a very nice and friendly guy, I have found that he is taking advantage of so many people.

As his acquisition manager I contacted several past "academy" members that they were feeling so screwed by DJ Thielen.

Along with these ex-members we are looking to start a Class Action with other ex-members of his "academy" and clients that they feel were also economically or emotionally affected by the unfair and abusive activities of Duane Joseph Thielen, aka DJ Thielen.

Please go to www.DJThielenReviews.com and contact us if you want to join this group.

I've been with most of the real estate mentors in the USA, but in my experience, DJ Thielen is the worst and the most expensive.

Consumer beware.

[Theresa Pollard]

On February 10, 2020, I purchased a property from Fortune Foreclosures, with an all-in price which included the rehab for a retail flip. I was told, upon closing, that the materials had already been ordered and work would begin the following week. I was also set up with a Slack account for me to be able to see the weekly progress to be reported every Friday, with updated pictures. The progress was never updated for months, and then I was suddenly changed over to monday.com, after which the same pattern continued with no work being done. Little did I know the work was never started. Turns out that almost 30 other investors were also waiting on their projects to be completed, because they didn't have enough crews to do the work. Instead of being honest with me about the situation, they continued to lead me on, thinking the work was being completed. I didn't learn about the overselling and backlog of rehabs until much later in the year, around September or October. Then in March and the following few months, I was told the crews weren't allowed to work due to COVID-19. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, checking in on the project every few weeks, and in August, when I knew people were allowed to resume work in Pennsylvania, I again contacted DJ Thielen, the CEO of Fortune Foreclosures to find out when the work would be started. I was informed that they had completed 24 of the 27 rehab projects sold, and that I was in the last three, with my project being next on the schedule. In November, I received some pictures of materials that had been ordered and demo work that had been done. A month later, not much had been accomplished, and now the workers couldn't work because they had no heat, and we couldn't get any fuel, so they ordered an electric furnace, which was just installed last week. I have contacts in that area, and sent a local person to the house last week to check into the situation, and although the furnace had just been installed, work was still not being done and the same materials were still sitting there. Add to the already existing problem, white mold is now growing in the upstairs and black mold proliferating in the basement. Back in late summer, I received a letter from the inspector that we had a rodent problem, and that we were in violation of two separate ordinances, because of broken doors and windows. I believe that was resolved. It's been almost a year since I closed on this house/project, and there's still approximately 60k in work to be done. The ARV was up around 230k, or so, at the time the house was purchased, and now we're getting estimates around 189k. DO NOT get involved with this company, because your house will NEVER get completed. The promises are just empty promises, and just talking to them gets you nowhere. My next step will be to contact any authority with jurisdiction in Pennsylvania, as well as the crime/fraud unit in Los Angeles, followed by every outlet and network available to me. This has to STOP! If anyone else has dealt with these issues, and has any helpful suggestions for paths to pursue, please respond. I'm out 160k, if this project doesn't get finished, and at this rate, it seems it never will. No such thing as a 2- or 3-month rehab with this company! I honestly feel that the money I've paid has been mismanaged somehow, and that the workers are not being paid, which is why the project isn't being completed.

[Theresa Pollard]

Perhaps I should start my own class-action lawsuit for myself, and the other investors using Fortune Foreclosures to find their rehab deals, who haven't been able to get their projects finished. Anyone interested?

[Silvio Dobrovat]

Originally posted by @Theresa Pollard:

Perhaps I should start my own class-action lawsuit for myself, and the other investors using Fortune Foreclosures to find their rehab deals, who haven't been able to get their projects finished. Anyone interested?

[Silvio Dobrovat]

Sorry to hear of your troubles with DJ.

There appears to be a growing list of victims which is unbelievable with this amount of fraud.

Start your suit, there are plenty of people waiting for justice.

[George G.]

Sounds all too familiar programs like fortune builders, Chicago REIA, renatus, all the same the goal is to get your money for memberships, investment deals and so on to pay for all the GURU and master programs and advice. On average I can count 100 solicitations I get a year for some investment or syndication. There is no program that offer 100% money back guarantee. I believe in failing forward you should always try and there are sites like this now to give you all the advice you need... You need to pay someone 50K for advice give it to me....lol.

[Jonathan Klemm]

@aaron -  I am kinda with @George G. on this one and love his point about failing forward.  Not sure about your market but here in Chicago there are tons of great local meetups and investors willing to help you if you are willing to put in the work.

Real estate is a get rich slow game...

[Gregg Cohen]

@George G. - Just want to point out that Fortune Builders is not the same company as Fortune Foreclosures.  I invested with Fortune Builders about 15 years ago for their education programs and have had a great experience with them.  Since 2006 we've bought over 3,000 properties and much of our success is due to the relationship we've had with their organization.  

I have never done business with Fortune Foreclosures but it's terrible to hear the stories on this post regarding this company.

[Blake Wehling]

@Michael McCulley I would love to connect with you and learn more about what has worked well for you in the house flipping business. I have been flipping homes in the Portland Oregon for about 5 years now

[Silvio Dobrovat]

If you hear the name DJ Thielen or Fortune foreclosures, run the other way.

He has been scamming people successfully for sometime and I’ve heard from others that he is utterly destitute and insolvent.

Perfect candidate for American Greed show.

BEWARE!

[Mackenzie Lopez]

Quote from @John Andrews:

Arturo,

I am doing my first deal with them in Pittsburg and will let you know how it goes.

JR

 I'm willing to bet it went horribly 

[Mackenzie Lopez]

Quote from @Silvio Dobrovat:

Sorry to hear of your troubles with DJ.

There appears to be a growing list of victims which is unbelievable with this amount of fraud.

Start your suit, there are plenty of people waiting for justice.

He also started renting homes, he rented me a house filled with mice that chewed holes in everything, walls floors, electrical, etc. Sent contractors high on drugs, didn't fix things properly. 

My health conditions worsened severely the two months I stayed there, he also forced me to surrender the security deposit because he knew I feared being trapped in that lease despite having legal cause to break it.  The house was in such bad shape I've seen squatter homes in much better condition.

He sold the house to a woman who never saw it in person, he told me he out 20k into renovating it which is a clear lie there's only cheap new flooring upstairs and fresh paint upstairs that's it.

One of the rooms is being held up by cinderblocks and the houses foundation is ready to cave in at any time.

[Mackenzie Lopez]

Quote from @John Andrews:

Feel free to PM me and I will give you some feedback on 

I want to know lol

[Nate Marshall]

Stay away from this guy. There are other threads about him.