If in Houston, Do Not Join the RICH Club
I will begin by saying this is embarrassing for me but hopefully my naivety will protect some others. I have been a member of the Reality Investment Club of Houston (RICH) for many years. Over the years I have met and been approached by many con artists, swindlers, and other various pieces of human trash. I was always able to filter those guys out. While there have been bad members I also met some good ones. One of the good ones (or so I thought) is an attorney that specialized in real estate. The past couple of years I hired this attorney to help me or consult me in the area of real estate.
Well to make a long story short this attorney approached me one day to give me a piece of a real estate deal he was working on. At the end of it all there was no real estate deal. It was a scam. I lost several thousand dollars to this guy. I went to court, he of course did not show up. I won my case easily by default.
Recently I have learned that this attorney is still speaking at the RICH club here in Houston. I have also learned that many other people were swindled by this same guy last year. What even shocked me more is that apparently board members of the RICH Club know about his actions but they have chosen to turn a blind eye to it. Since I am a member I attempted to speak with some on the board by email and by phone but no one will return my calls or emails.
For me this has been a huge eye opener. You cannot trust anyone when it comes to money. I trusted an established attorney with over 30 years of experience. I lost several thousand dollars that I will probably never be able to recoup even with a judgment against the guy. I have never been a smart person but I always thought that common sense picked up the slack for me. Unfortunately I was blinded by trust. For all the greatness that this country offers it is also a playground for criminals and victims get screwed all the way around.
Looking back I can see many red flags with this whole scenario and how it went down. Like I mentioned it is embarrassing now but it has also been a huge learning experience, although a costly one. Protect your money, protect your assets, don't trust anyone, but in the end its just stupid money anyway.