{"id":160879,"date":"2023-10-19T15:13:10","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T21:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/?p=160879"},"modified":"2024-02-28T13:44:18","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T20:44:18","slug":"grant-cardone-class-action-lawsuit-dismissed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/grant-cardone-class-action-lawsuit-dismissed","title":{"rendered":"Grant Cardone Class Action Lawsuit Dismissed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A district judge in California has tossed out a class action lawsuit against real estate investor and influencer Grant Cardone. The case has received national attention in real estate media outlets, thanks in part to Cardone\u2019s prominent public profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Was the Case All About?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The class action lawsuit was brought before the Los Angeles Ninth District Court by Christine Pino, daughter of the deceased Luis Pino, who originally had filed the suit in 2019. Pino invested $10,000 in Cardone\u2019s real estate funds after attending the investor\u2019s Breakthrough Wealth Summit in 2019.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lawsuit, originally dismissed in 2021 and reinstated in 2022, claimed that Cardone received the investment money by using misleading statements on social media. Specifically, the plaintiff argued that Cardone exaggerated the ROIs investors in his business could expect and downplayed their financial liability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pino\u2019s case hinged on claims Cardone made in YouTube videos and Instagram posts. In a video from 2019, Cardone said, \u2018\u2018You\u2019re gonna walk away with a 15% annualized return.\u2019\u2019 And an Instagram post by the investor\u2019s official account, Cardone Capital, said: \u201cOne question you might want to ask is, who is responsible for the debt? The answer is Grant!\u2019\u2019&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  <div class=\"lg:block\" x-data=\"{ ad_block_block_65319a3a5df49: popAds(1) }\">\n      <template x-for=\"ad in ad_block_block_65319a3a5df49\">\n        <a\n          :href=\"ad.linkURL\"\n          class=\"no-underline text-black\"\n          x-on:click=\"adClicked('https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/grant-cardone-class-action-lawsuit-dismissed', ad.sponsor, ad.title, ad.id, 'blockAdClicked', 'blockAd', '')\"\n          target=\"_blank\">\n          <div\n            class=\"py-4 border-b flex flex-col flex-nowrap text-sm border-t px-0 rounded-none\"\n            x-init=\"\n              analytics.track('blockAdLoaded', {\n                referrer: 'https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/grant-cardone-class-action-lawsuit-dismissed',\n                sponsor: ad.sponsor,\n                ad_title: ad.title,\n                ad_page_location: ''\n              })\n            \"\n            x-intersect:enter.once=\"adViewed('https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/grant-cardone-class-action-lawsuit-dismissed', ad.sponsor, ad.title, ad.id, 'blockAdViewed', 'blockAd', '')\">\n            <div><span class=\"text-xs text-slate-light block bg-slate-50 p-1 inline-block rounded-md\">Sponsored<\/span><\/div>\n            <div class=\"flex items-center text-sm space-x-4\">\n                <img :src=\"ad.imageURL\" :alt=\"ad.imageAlt\" class=\"h-10 w-10 object-cover rounded-full\">\n\n                <div clas=\"text-sm\">\n                    <span class=\"font-bold block\" x-text=\"ad.sponsor\"><\/span>\n                    <span class=\"text-slate\/80\" x-text=\"ad.description\"><\/span>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n\n            <div>\n                <span class=\"font-bold\" x-text=\"ad.title\"><\/span>\n                <p class=\"mt-2 text-slate\/80\" x-text=\"ad.body\"><\/p>\n                <span class=\"mt-2 text-themeBlue block mt-2 underline\" x-text=\"ad.linkTitle\"><\/span>\n            <\/div>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/a>\n      <\/template>\n  <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Judge\u2019s Ruling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this month, <a href=\"https:\/\/grantcardone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/dismissal-order.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/grantcardone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/dismissal-order.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">district judge John Walter ruled<\/a> \u2018\u2018Because [the] Plaintiff has disclaimed any and all allegations of fraud, Plaintiff cannot allege that Defendants did not honestly believe in the statements made regarding IRR and distribution projections.\u2019\u2019 In other words, Pino never claimed that Cardone\u2019s statements on social media were fraudulent, so she cannot prove Cardone was misleading potential investors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The case was dismissed with prejudice, which means it cannot be retried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is a shame our system is so litigious, and the fact is most people simply do not have the resources to defend themselves and will settle,\u201d said Grant Cardone in a statement to BiggerPockets. \u201cI chose to fight for three years, providing the resources and supportive material to dispel all claims made against me. Our system is out of control, where anyone can file suit and make claims against another person for almost anything without any real proof of financial harm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/grantcardone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/dismissal-order.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">court documents<\/a>, Cardone Capital is \u201ca typical real estate syndicator\u201d and operates by buying, renting out, and reselling or refinancing undervalued real estate with money it raises from others\u2019 investments. Some of these investors were accredited, while others were not. Cardone\u2019s business was able to offer investment opportunities to non-accredited or \u2018\u2018everyday investors\u2019\u2019 thanks to Regulation A of the Securities Act, signed into law under the JOBS Act in 2015.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grant\u2019s funds fell under this law, meaning they could crowdfund investments of as little as $1,000 directly via social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Cardone Capital crowdsourced $50 million in investments between 2019 and 2020 to purchase real estate around the country. At the time the lawsuit was filed, Cardone owned and managed 4,500 units in 20 different locations, then valued at around $700 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since the verdict, Cardone has criticized various real estate media outlets for their coverage of the lawsuit and has reiterated that he has always been transparent with his investors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Grant Cardone has been featured on BiggerPockets podcasts and videos about his real estate investing strategies and personal wealth journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n    \n  <div id=\"visibility-group-block_64dd31c79f00f\" class=\"visibility-group  \">\n        \n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"hero-block_64dd2875dba9d\" class=\"first:mt-0 hero-block py-4    has-background has-slate-100-background-color has-text-color has-theme-slate-color\">\n    <div\n        class=\" flex flex-wrap lg:flex-nowrap max-w-screen-xl mx-auto px-4 relative lg:items-center \">\n\n        <div class=\"relative z-30 w-full \">\n            <main class=\"py-4\">\n                \n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading my-0 tracking-tight font-extrabold has-theme-slate-dark-color has-text-color has-large-font-size\">Join the community<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"my-3 md:my-5 lg:my-8 has-theme-slate-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-weight:400\">Ready to succeed in real estate investing? Create a free BiggerPockets account to learn about investment strategies; ask questions and get answers from our community of +2 million members; connect with investor-friendly agents; and so much more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=button-custom-event-block_64dd2888dba9e class='button-custom-event'>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/signup\" x-on:click=\"window.analytics.track(&#039;Blog Block | Acquisition | Free Membership Signup&#039;, {\n      referrer: &#039;https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/grant-cardone-class-action-lawsuit-dismissed&#039;,\n    });\" class=\" btn-shape inline-block no-underline has-background has-theme-blue-background-color has-text-color has-white-color\" target=\"_blank\">Sign Up<\/a>\n  <\/div>\n\n            <\/main>\n        <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div>\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A district judge in California has tossed out a class action lawsuit against real estate investor and influencer Grant Cardone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":613618,"featured_media":160883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-trends"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/613618"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}