experience with Hughes Private Capital

[Pinaki Ghosh]

I would like to know the experience of other people with Hughes Private Capital. In recent days I have been contacted by several investors and lawyers who claim to have a problem with Hughes Private Capital.

We do not have any NDA with Hughes Private Capital and we filed a lawsuit against them to get part of our principal back. Never received any interest after lawyer fees. Everything I am expressing here was part of a deposition where either Hughes Private capital owners or their CPA were engaged. During deposition they never refuted any of the facts that I mention here. We have proof of everything below. If you have similar experience, please contact my lawyer Noel Stout (Nstout at abdmlaw dot com) or Rich at NVlawyers dot com.

We invested in one of their funds (assuravest llc). We had to sue to get our money back. In the discovery process we found that most of the things they said were lies and they even misrepresented their experience credentials in the note world. Both the owners are uneducated in the finance world (one has a high school degree only). They used our principle to pay other investor's investment returns (which is very definition Ponzi scheme). They created a second fund using the same name and invested in similar instruments (non-performing notes). The notes they bought were not recorded in proper databases and they used 2 tabs of an excel document to track the 2 funds (how easy it is to cheat). While the fund was performing very poorly, they sent us statements every quarter regarding how our fund was growing as intended. When we asked for documents through court, they created a folder called (investor_name_waste of time). They gave away millions of our money to some note broker without getting much of the actual notes. So, the money was never put in any escrow account (which idiot would do so). The notes they received were never recorded anywhere other than excel documents.  They also mocked us by sending us a book called "how we sleep at night" etc. We have all the documents and proof in black and white. They paid themselves fat fees even though fund was losing money hand over fist. We were promised that we can withdraw any time after a certain period. When we asked for our money back they immediately halted all payments (or they said so). Does this ring a bell? That is when we decided to sue them. They settled with us just before the actual trial date. We did not get any interest, so it was a loss for us. The extra money we got went to lawyer and we had to pay some from our pocket. There were many many more inappropriate actions as related to financial transactions and record keeping

They also mixed funds by lending to other funds and then draining our principal in paying interest to themselves and other funds. If you decide to sue them, please include their CPA firm because this firm enables these 2 owners. The CPA firm knew about much of the fraud.  I hope at some point Nevada Securities Commission will look into this case because this is pure play ponzi. 

I can be reached through this website or pinaki at utexas dot edu. I will be more than happy to help anybody who may have questions about this company.

[Chad U.]

Wow, so sorry to hear of your misfortune. Can't say I have ever heard of this group but thanks for the heads up and hopefully keeping others from investing with them.

[Jay Hinrichs]

your one lucky dude.. its very rare for this scenario to be anything but a total 100% wipe out.

have YOU contact the folks in NV.. I know NV takes these very seriously and will follow up on complaints.. NV is one state that highly regulates

mortgage lending and Notes etc.. U should be the one filing the complaint especially since you got your money back.

[Pinaki Ghosh]

I will contact Nevada securities commission. I have screen shots that few months ago this company was offering flexible deposit accounts with interest. This is a highly regulated activity at federal level. I am sure they do not have banking licenses. Wonder why Nevada securities commission did not take any action.

[Jay Hinrichs]

Quote from @Pinaki Ghosh:

I will contact Nevada securities commission. I have screen shots that few months ago this company was offering flexible deposit accounts with interest. This is a highly regulated activity at federal level. I am sure they do not have banking licenses. Wonder why Nevada securities commission did not take any action.

Because most regulators need someone to bring it to their attention..  Although I will tell you on BP I just mentioned making a loan in Vegas. Some one sent a copy of my post to the NV mortgage regulators and it was not 10 days later I got a nasty gram.. Saying:  1. state of NV does not have a record of your Mortgage license we see your NMLS registered and licensed in Oregon but not NV..  It further went on to say that I am forbidden to make loans in NV unless I get a brick and mortar office and are properly licensed.  And that was just me making a comment that i would LOOK at a loan in NV.. Not that I did make a loan in NV and of course we would have checked regs before we did anything in NV.. So file your complaint its free.

[Pinaki Ghosh]

I have filed a complain with Nevada Securities office under their secretary of state.

[Chris Seveney]

@Pinaki Ghosh

Wow, never heard of them either. You’re fortunate to get some money back as mentioned many of these schemes end up with the investors getting nothing back.

What I have seen in the past is a lot of the sponsors, even after getting sued, and/or reported to agencies, walk away with a slap on the wrist and still walk away with a lot of money in their pocket

[Pinaki Ghosh]

We got some of our money back because the case was in Texas and they knew that if they do not pay at the end they may end up in prison in Texas because they did not have license in Texas to sell securities. But I believe in Nevada area a lot of people have lost a lot of money

[Nate Marshall]

They heavily advertise in the Denver radio market. I probably hear their commercial at least once a day. My experience is these turnkey programs never really work for anyone but the sponsor/operator and Clayton Morris is proof of that. 

You can also contact other states where they advertise. Colorado is very aggressive. 

[Pinaki Ghosh]

Quote from @Pinaki Ghosh:

I would like to know the experience of other people with Hughes Private Capital. In recent days I have been contacted by several investors and lawyers who claim to have a problem with Hughes Private Capital.

We do not have any NDA with Hughes Private Capital and we filed a lawsuit against them to get part of our principal back. Never received any interest after lawyer fees. Everything I am expressing here was part of a deposition where either Hughes Private capital owners or their CPA were engaged. During deposition they never refuted any of the facts that I mention here. We have proof of everything below. If you have similar experience, please contact my lawyer Noel Stout (Nstout at abdmlaw dot com) or Rich at NVlawyers dot com.

We invested in one of their funds (assuravest llc). We had to sue to get our money back. In the discovery process we found that most of the things they said were lies and they even misrepresented their experience credentials in the note world. Both the owners are uneducated in the finance world (one has a high school degree only). They used our principle to pay other investor's investment returns (which is very definition Ponzi scheme). They created a second fund using the same name and invested in similar instruments (non-performing notes). The notes they bought were not recorded in proper databases and they used 2 tabs of an excel document to track the 2 funds (how easy it is to cheat). While the fund was performing very poorly, they sent us statements every quarter regarding how our fund was growing as intended. When we asked for documents through court, they created a folder called (investor_name_waste of time). They gave away millions of our money to some note broker without getting much of the actual notes. So, the money was never put in any escrow account (which idiot would do so). The notes they received were never recorded anywhere other than excel documents.  They also mocked us by sending us a book called "how we sleep at night" etc. We have all the documents and proof in black and white. They paid themselves fat fees even though fund was losing money hand over fist. We were promised that we can withdraw any time after a certain period. When we asked for our money back they immediately halted all payments (or they said so). Does this ring a bell? That is when we decided to sue them. They settled with us just before the actual trial date. We did not get any interest, so it was a loss for us. The extra money we got went to lawyer and we had to pay some from our pocket. There were many many more inappropriate actions as related to financial transactions and record keeping

They also mixed funds by lending to other funds and then draining our principal in paying interest to themselves and other funds. If you decide to sue them, please include their CPA firm because this firm enables these 2 owners. The CPA firm knew about much of the fraud.  I hope at some point Nevada Securities Commission will look into this case because this is pure play ponzi. 

I can be reached through this website or pinaki at utexas dot edu. I will be more than happy to help anybody who may have questions about this company.

 An update - I have been contacted by at least 5 investors who all say that they have been defrauded or bamboozled by Hughes Private Capital. Hughes Private Capital has now created a new fund called Hughberry Homes and taking in money under this new scheme

[CJ Popp]

I am having a similar experience with HPC. Would you be willing to have a conversation with me about this? 

[Jeremy Mahoney]

I'm in the same boat. I put a huge portion of my savings into their "liquidity account" because they paid 4% interest and it was accessible within 30 days. It was supposed to be just like a savings account. When I asked for it back in December they kept pushing it down the road. Most recently they promised the funds by April. Today I received an email that they're being forced into bankruptcy on their by-and-hold fund. This is supposed to be completely separate from their Liquidity account but I have a feeling I've lost almost all of my savings. Please reach out if you have any information. 

[Zane Fore]

I know of people who did a "Loan" to the Guardian Buy and Hold Fund. Basically this was a lending option that allowed you to get interest only payments with rights to call the note at any time. This also allowed you to invest without being accredited. I am really curios how the "Lenders" are going to end up in this.  

[Pinaki Ghosh]

Quote from @Zane Fore:

I know of people who did a "Loan" to the Guardian Buy and Hold Fund. Basically this was a lending option that allowed you to get interest only payments with rights to call the note at any time. This also allowed you to invest without being accredited. I am really curios how the "Lenders" are going to end up in this.  

basically its a note to a note. Was it a 1st lien holder note? It should not have any bearing on bankruptcy of Guardian fund. 

Did you contact Nevada Secretary of State finance section? Its easy to file a complain there

[Pinaki Ghosh]

Quote from @Jeremy Mahoney:

I'm in the same boat. I put a huge portion of my savings into their "liquidity account" because they paid 4% interest and it was accessible within 30 days. It was supposed to be just like a savings account. When I asked for it back in December they kept pushing it down the road. Most recently they promised the funds by April. Today I received an email that they're being forced into bankruptcy on their by-and-hold fund. This is supposed to be completely separate from their Liquidity account but I have a feeling I've lost almost all of my savings. Please reach out if you have any information. 

 This is a pure banking activity for which they need banking license. Did you contact Nevada Secretary of State (finance). Its easy to file a complaint there. They will probably go to jail for this Liquidity fund. Please send me a message with your email and I will put you in touch with other investors

[Jackie Handlin]

I have just sent an email to the legal department you recommended at NVlawyers.com.

We have invested with Hughes as a lender and now find that the Guardian company is filing bankruptcy and there is no longer anyone that we can contact regarding our account. We have been to their office twice here in Reno and all the people there say they work for the new company formed and don't have any contact individuals for us to speak to. We have emailed and called Greg Hughes and several others but have had no response. Please advise the best route to recover our investment.

The Handlins

[Pinaki Ghosh]

Quote from @Jackie Handlin:

I have just sent an email to the legal department you recommended at NVlawyers.com.

We have invested with Hughes as a lender and now find that the Guardian company is filing bankruptcy and there is no longer anyone that we can contact regarding our account. We have been to their office twice here in Reno and all the people there say they work for the new company formed and don't have any contact individuals for us to speak to. We have emailed and called Greg Hughes and several others but have had no response. Please advise the best route to recover our investment.

The Handlins

 Please file a complain with Nevada Secretary of State immediately. There is an active investigation

[Dan Thorntn]

Wow, I sat through a presentation with Hughes Capital in Reno about 6-7 years ago. And reached out to Clayton Morris as well. I considered investing with both. Grateful I did not. Thank you for sharing this info. These companies give a bad name to the ones that are honest and make investors a priority.

[Cindy Su]

Quote from @Pinaki Ghosh:

I would like to know the experience of other people with Hughes Private Capital. In recent days I have been contacted by several investors and lawyers who claim to have a problem with Hughes Private Capital.

We do not have any NDA with Hughes Private Capital and we filed a lawsuit against them to get part of our principal back. Never received any interest after lawyer fees. Everything I am expressing here was part of a deposition where either Hughes Private capital owners or their CPA were engaged. During deposition they never refuted any of the facts that I mention here. We have proof of everything below. If you have similar experience, please contact my lawyer Noel Stout (Nstout at abdmlaw dot com) or Rich at NVlawyers dot com.

We invested in one of their funds (assuravest llc). We had to sue to get our money back. In the discovery process we found that most of the things they said were lies and they even misrepresented their experience credentials in the note world. Both the owners are uneducated in the finance world (one has a high school degree only). They used our principle to pay other investor's investment returns (which is very definition Ponzi scheme). They created a second fund using the same name and invested in similar instruments (non-performing notes). The notes they bought were not recorded in proper databases and they used 2 tabs of an excel document to track the 2 funds (how easy it is to cheat). While the fund was performing very poorly, they sent us statements every quarter regarding how our fund was growing as intended. When we asked for documents through court, they created a folder called (investor_name_waste of time). They gave away millions of our money to some note broker without getting much of the actual notes. So, the money was never put in any escrow account (which idiot would do so). The notes they received were never recorded anywhere other than excel documents.  They also mocked us by sending us a book called "how we sleep at night" etc. We have all the documents and proof in black and white. They paid themselves fat fees even though fund was losing money hand over fist. We were promised that we can withdraw any time after a certain period. When we asked for our money back they immediately halted all payments (or they said so). Does this ring a bell? That is when we decided to sue them. They settled with us just before the actual trial date. We did not get any interest, so it was a loss for us. The extra money we got went to lawyer and we had to pay some from our pocket. There were many many more inappropriate actions as related to financial transactions and record keeping

They also mixed funds by lending to other funds and then draining our principal in paying interest to themselves and other funds. If you decide to sue them, please include their CPA firm because this firm enables these 2 owners. The CPA firm knew about much of the fraud.  I hope at some point Nevada Securities Commission will look into this case because this is pure play ponzi. 

I can be reached through this website or pinaki at utexas dot edu. I will be more than happy to help anybody who may have questions about this company.

 Thanks Pinaki. I just emailed you.

[Jackie Handlin]

Quote from @Pinaki Ghosh:

Quote from @Jackie Handlin:

I have just sent an email to the legal department you recommended at NVlawyers.com.

We have invested with Hughes as a lender and now find that the Guardian company is filing bankruptcy and there is no longer anyone that we can contact regarding our account. We have been to their office twice here in Reno and all the people there say they work for the new company formed and don't have any contact individuals for us to speak to. We have emailed and called Greg Hughes and several others but have had no response. Please advise the best route to recover our investment.

The Handlins

 Please file a complain with Nevada Secretary of State immediately. There is an active investigation

 Filed a complaint with the NV Secretary of State. Hughes just sent an email saying that they are filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy next week.

[Jay Hinrichs]

Quote from @Jackie Handlin:

Quote from @Pinaki Ghosh:

Quote from @Jackie Handlin:

I have just sent an email to the legal department you recommended at NVlawyers.com.

We have invested with Hughes as a lender and now find that the Guardian company is filing bankruptcy and there is no longer anyone that we can contact regarding our account. We have been to their office twice here in Reno and all the people there say they work for the new company formed and don't have any contact individuals for us to speak to. We have emailed and called Greg Hughes and several others but have had no response. Please advise the best route to recover our investment.

The Handlins

 Please file a complain with Nevada Secretary of State immediately. There is an active investigation

 Filed a complaint with the NV Secretary of State. Hughes just sent an email saying that they are filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy next week.

well thats an attempt at reorganization not a liquidation.. But many times they wont file the chapter 7 because if there is a lot of fruad they run the chance of BK fraud and jail time.. 

[Michael Jons]

Received this yesterday:

Dear Secured Portfolio Investors,

We have unfortunate news to report. Hughes Private Capital will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy sometime next week.

As you know, the Guardian Fund, which has homes in the Midwest, was temporarily closed in December 2022. Over the last 120 days, we have been working through that closure to resolve it with a stabilization plan. Guardian was compelled to enter a Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy through that process. The control has now been transferred to the bankruptcy court for Guardian, removing Hughes Private Capital (HPC) as its manager.

Due to the temporary closing of Guardian, HPC could no longer sell additional properties to Guardian or outside investors. This reduced HPC's revenue by 90%, making it unable to continue business as usual.

At the time in December when HPC agreed to take over your lease on your properties, we did not expect to have the devastating outcome it has had for HPC.

We had many assets to keep us working through the stabilization plan for Guardian and expected to be able to continue in business with HPC.

We downsized our business drastically to cut costs and as owners, we all stopped taking any salary. Unfortunately, it has not been enough to continue and to pay our creditors and expenses.

We are working with the operating company 12B Residential and their property management company to work out a solution for you with your portfolio of homes. However, we don't have that solution figured out at this point.

Over the next 30 days, we will have a solution for you and update you as often as possible when information becomes available.

All of this will be subject to court approval.

We want to offer our sincere apologies that it has come to this.

Also, I find this interesting in regards to 12B Residential. I believe its mailing address at 5440 Louie Lane Suite 106, Reno, NV 89511 is in the same building as HPC.

12B RESIDENTIAL, CORPORATION is an Alabama Foreign Corporation filed on March 9, 2023. The company's filing status is listed as Exists and its File Number is 001-067-959.

The Registered Agent on file for this company is Jackson, Thomas H III and is located at 400 Century Park South, Suite 124, Birmingham, AL 35226. The company's principal address is 400 Century Park South, Suite 124, Birmingham, AL 35226 and its mailing address is 5440 Louie Lane Suite 106, Reno, NV 89511.

The company has 1 contact on record. The contact is Thomas H Jackson from Birmingham AL.

[Chuck Lamar]

I have submitted this to Nevada Secretary of State (it is easy to do on their website with this link)  Securities Complaint | Forms | Nevada Secretary of State (nvsos.gov)
Please "join the club"

I was suckered into what resembles a Ponzi Scheme. Greg Hughes sold me three homes in Cleveland, which they had claimed to be renovated and rented. They then leased them back from me, at 7% rental fee from their "secured investment fund" (their subsidiary Guardian Fund.)
After 8 months, they defaulted on the lease by cancelling payments without required notice.
I tried multiple times to contact them for more information, access to my houses, etc., which were ignored.
I then investigated the houses with external photos taken by a Real Estate agent in Cleveland which showed two of the three houses were unoccupied and in poor condition. I then searched county records and discovered the process by which Hughes/Guardian had acquired the houses through another subsidiary and sold to me at 2x their value.
All of their advertising and promotional information specified they had purchased, renovated, and rented the homes they sold me. This was fraudulent false advertising and misinformation.
I demanded that they buy back my properties. at the price I had paid them, to reverse their scam, and they refused to respond. They have now filed for Chapter 11 . in Nevada, after creating a new similar subsidiary who sells and manages short term rentals.
THEY MUST BE STOPPED AND HELD ACCOUNTABLE!

[Jay Hinrichs]

Quote from @Chuck Lamar:

I have submitted this to Nevada Secretary of State (it is easy to do on their website with this link)  Securities Complaint | Forms | Nevada Secretary of State (nvsos.gov)
Please "join the club"

I was suckered into what resembles a Ponzi Scheme. Greg Hughes sold me three homes in Cleveland, which they had claimed to be renovated and rented. They then leased them back from me, at 7% rental fee from their "secured investment fund" (their subsidiary Guardian Fund.)
After 8 months, they defaulted on the lease by cancelling payments without required notice.
I tried multiple times to contact them for more information, access to my houses, etc., which were ignored.
I then investigated the houses with external photos taken by a Real Estate agent in Cleveland which showed two of the three houses were unoccupied and in poor condition. I then searched county records and discovered the process by which Hughes/Guardian had acquired the houses through another subsidiary and sold to me at 2x their value.
All of their advertising and promotional information specified they had purchased, renovated, and rented the homes they sold me. This was fraudulent false advertising and misinformation.
I demanded that they buy back my properties. at the price I had paid them, to reverse their scam, and they refused to respond. They have now filed for Chapter 11 . in Nevada, after creating a new similar subsidiary who sells and manages short term rentals.
THEY MUST BE STOPPED AND HELD ACCOUNTABLE!

 This sounds exactly like the Clayton Morris fiasco in Indy. James Wise did a big long expo on that situation.

[Jay Hinrichs]

Quote from @Chuck Lamar:

I have submitted this to Nevada Secretary of State (it is easy to do on their website with this link)  Securities Complaint | Forms | Nevada Secretary of State (nvsos.gov)
Please "join the club"

I was suckered into what resembles a Ponzi Scheme. Greg Hughes sold me three homes in Cleveland, which they had claimed to be renovated and rented. They then leased them back from me, at 7% rental fee from their "secured investment fund" (their subsidiary Guardian Fund.)
After 8 months, they defaulted on the lease by cancelling payments without required notice.
I tried multiple times to contact them for more information, access to my houses, etc., which were ignored.
I then investigated the houses with external photos taken by a Real Estate agent in Cleveland which showed two of the three houses were unoccupied and in poor condition. I then searched county records and discovered the process by which Hughes/Guardian had acquired the houses through another subsidiary and sold to me at 2x their value.
All of their advertising and promotional information specified they had purchased, renovated, and rented the homes they sold me. This was fraudulent false advertising and misinformation.
I demanded that they buy back my properties. at the price I had paid them, to reverse their scam, and they refused to respond. They have now filed for Chapter 11 . in Nevada, after creating a new similar subsidiary who sells and manages short term rentals.
THEY MUST BE STOPPED AND HELD ACCOUNTABLE!

U need to file complaints in Ohio as well. 

[Chuck Lamar]

Jay,

Thanks, I am in the process of doing just that, as Hughes was mentioned in this article:

to a set of broken steps illustrates Cleveland's dance with out-of-town investors

"The story of Exitos Capital, ... shows the difficulty the city faces in reaching out-of-town investors – and the challenges those investors can encounter in keeping track of their holdings.

The company jumped into the Cleveland market in March 2018. That month, Exitos bought 27 properties – all from the same seller – for $611,000, according to county records. The company obtained more houses through 2018, until it owned a total of 43, by my count.

Then the citations came. From November 2018 through September last year, the city filed 21 housing misdemeanors against Exitos, by my count of cases in Cleveland Municipal Housing Court records.

Meanwhile, the company was selling off its properties. In March 2020, Exitos sold 17 parcels for $559,000 to Home Partners LLC, a subsidiary of the Reno, Nev.-based investment firm Hughes Private Capital, according to property and business documents.

In housing court, Exitos was a no-show for most of its citations. Eventually, the court placed liens against Exitos for unpaid fines and penalties, according to county court records.

I had discovered (too late) that Hughes sold me 3 of those 17 homes for $402,299, for which he had paid $213,000, and had not done anything to "renovate" at least two of them!