Are house-flipping seminars a scam? FTC says don’t fall for them

Flipping houses is very popular in Florida and many seminars suggest the potential for high profits. But are the claims for earning large sums of money true?   

The Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on Utah-based company Zurixx LLC and its affiliated companies, accusing them of using “deceptive promises of big profits to lure consumers into real estate seminars costing thousands of dollars.”  

According to the FTC’s website, “Zurixx purports to offer consumers coaching and training on how to make large sums of money by buying houses and quickly updating and reselling them, a practice known as ‘flipping.’”

Zurixx claims to offer consumers coaching and training on how to make large sums of money by flipping houses, FTC said.  

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“Its advertisements routinely feature endorsements from celebrities like, Tarek and Christina El Moussa from HGTV’s ‘Flip or Flop,’ Hilary Farr from HGTV’s ‘Love It or List It,’ and Peter Souhleris and Dave Seymour from A&E’s ‘Flipping Boston,’” FTC posted on its site.

FTC officials said the ads “entice consumers to free events” that Zurixx claimed would teach them how to profit by flipping homes, “using other people’s money.”

“From start to finish, these defendants used the promise of easy money and in-depth information to lure consumers down a path that could cost them thousands of dollars and put them in serious debt,” director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Andrew Smith said.

A complaint filed by the FTC alleges that the company’s free event is a sales presentation for its three-day workshops that cost $1,997. FTC said that once consumers pay for and…