The Federal Trade Commission is sending more than $12 million in refunds to consumers who paid Zurixx, LLC for a real estate investment training program that allegedly made empty promises about earning big profits by “flipping” houses.
The FTC and the Utah Department of Commerce Division of Consumer Protection (UDCP) sued Zurixx and its owners, Cristopher Cannon, James Carlson, and Jeffrey Spangler in September 2019. The complaint, as later amended, alleged that the defendants operated a real estate investment coaching scheme that sold live seminars and telephone coaching using false earnings claims that convinced consumers to pay them thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in a relatively short amount of time by “flipping” or wholesaling real estate using Zurixx’s system. The defendants bolstered sales by partnering with home-improvement and flipping television personalities.
The defendants agreed to a settlement in February 2022, that included a monetary judgment and permanently banned them from marketing or selling any real estate or business coaching programs and prohibited them from making misleading earnings claims and from using contract terms to restrict consumers’ ability to review their products or speak to law enforcement agencies.
The FTC is sending checks to 25,563 consumers. Recipients should cash their checks within 90 days, as indicated on the check. Consumers who have questions about their payment should contact the refund administrator, JND Legal Administration, at 888-906-0593 or visit the FTC website to view frequently asked questions about the refund process. The Commission never requires people to pay money or provide account information to get a refund.
The Commission’s interactive dashboards for refund data provide a state-by-state breakdown of refunds in FTC cases. In 2023, FTC actions led to $324 million in refunds to consumers across the country. Official news published at https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/07/ftc-sends-more-12-million-refunds-consumers-harmed-zurixx-real-estate-investment-coaching-scheme
