All Forum Posts by: Cheryl A.

Thanks to everyone for adding to this post. Sharing positive/negative experience is really the only way to help strengthen this investment community! Please share your reviews to help other investors navigate this complex space.

Does anyone have experience going down the American Arbitration Association path? One of the operating agreements state this is the path for disputes, so I'd like to understand what to anticipate from the process. Is accompanying counsel beneficial, how long was the process, was the end results reasonable, etc.  

Is anyone familiar with viceroyresearch.org? Are they a legitimate group? If their assertion on the Arbor – The Foreclosure of Park North is correct this is really bad for investors.

As the Park North deal was failing there was a capital call that aligns to the assertion in the report.

I invested in three Blake Capital deals (at the time they were doing business as the Djuric Family Office):

- Canopy Creek Apartments, Jacksonville, Florida (Mar 2021-Dec 2021); ended quickly with a moderate return on investment

- Waterford Grove Apartments, Houston, Texas (Mar 2021-Dec 2023); failed resulting in a MIPA and total loss of all investor funds. 

- Park North (aka Life at Spring Estates), Houston, Texas (May 2022-Dec 2024); failed with a foreclosure & total loss of all investor funds. 

Some of the roughest spots for me include:

Deceptive & unqualified deal placement

• With Waterford Grove I was led to believe I would be investing directly in the deal, however according to the lead sponsor (which was not Blake Capital) I was not a direct investor in the deal. Instead, my investment went to Blake Capital and Blake Capital was the investor in the deal. Some on Bigger Pockets have called this a fund of funds investment structure, which was not disclosed up front, nor did I knowingly agree to.

• Park North was a 1031 exchange from the sale of Canopy Creek, and I was placed into a deal for accredited investors only, even though it was known that I did not meet accredited investor criteria.

Poor investor communications – despite being promised timely updates, most Investor reports were either not received unless I asked for them, or they were received 2-3 months late. At times I had to chase, even beg to get updates. As Blake Capital was not the lead operator on these deals, communications and reports were often delayed and second hand.

With Waterford Grove, I became aware of the deal's failure and total loss of investor funds four months after the fact, and this information was communicated by the lead operator rather than Blake Capital. Timeliness and transparency in communication was very poor.

Poorly maintained Investor Portal - The investment portal was not consistently updated or actively managed. It required multiple follow-ups to ensure my investment amounts were accurately reflected, and the few dividends received were not recorded within the system.

Late tax statements – Every year I was forced to file a tax extension due to late K1 delivery, causing additional stress and uncertainty around my tax planning and potential penalties.

• Canopy Creek: the 2021 the K1 was received on September 14, 2022.

• Waterford: the 2021 K1 was received on September 14, 2022; the 2022 K1 was received on September 15, 2023; and the 2023 K1 was received on June 13, 2024.

• Park North: the 2023 K1 was received on October 10, 2024; the 2024 K1 has not yet been received.

Legal intimidation - In mid-2024, after several months of limited communication, unanswered questions & confusion, I initiated this discussion on Bigger Pockets to connect with other investors facing similar issues and to gather insights on how they were handling the lack of communication from Blake Capital.

Shortly thereafter, I received a letter alleging online defamation and commercial disparagement, which threatened legal action should I not comply with a cease-and-desist request. The primary claim outlined in their letter was:

“Four months ago, you started a thread on BiggerPockets.com entitled “Has anyone invested with Djuric Family Office aka Blake Capital Group.” A copy of the thread is attached as Exhibit A. In a post you authored three months ago, you identify yourself as an investor in certain deals associated with the Djuric Family Office “aka now the Blake Capital Group.” You go on to express your dissatisfaction with your involvement with the Djuric Family Office in a manner that suggests Blake Capital Group is the successor to the family office and is somehow the party responsible for the performance of your investments. Your statements are objectively false because Blake Capital Group and the Djuric Family Office are two entirely separate entities. To be abundantly clear, Blake Capital Group is not the successor to or the alternate name of the Djuric Family Office.”

This statement is in contradiction to this notification sent by Blake Capital to investors on March 2, 2023.

“Firstly, I’m reaching out to thank you for your participation as an investor. As you may know, the last few years have been very productive for the firm, and your trust and confidence in us has made that possible. Going forward, we will now operate under the “Blake Capital Group” banner. Blake Capital will assume responsibility for our current portfolio, and spearhead new acquisitions efforts. In addition to myself, we were recently joined by Henry Post (cc’d) who will serve as our Vice President of Capital Markets. He brings a tremendous amount of experience and has partnered with us on several transactions through his prior firm. We have a few new opportunities for which we are accepting investors. However, in light of the current economic climate, I think it would behoove us to jump on a call so that we can reconnect and get up to speed on your updated investment goals. We can be available at your convenience and are looking forward to catching up. Click here to book a call with me
Best, Ian“

Since this notification all aspects of my investments have been managed under the banner of the “Blake Capital Group”, within the Blake Capital Group investment portal and by Blake Capital Group employees.

Hush money offer - In June 2025, I was approached by an Executive Assistant from Blake Capital Group, who stated that the company was prepared to offer $25,000 in exchange for the removal of my Bigger Pockets forum post and a commitment to refrain from making further negative statements regarding Blake Capital Group. I declined this offer.

Gas lighting - On July 02, 2025, I received an email stating I have never been an investor with Blake Capital, nor have I had any business relationship with the firm and not to contact anyone within the Blake Capital Group. 

My investor account in the Blake Capital Group has now been deleted & I no longer have access the investments in the portal.

Overall, my experience with Blake Capital & Ian Djuric has been completely unprofessional and complete madness, costing me significant financial loss.

Cheryl

So are you saying when SEC laws/rules are  broken there's really no SEC recourse? That's really bad for investors.  

Has anyone had success filing a SEC fraud complaint against bad acting GPs? If so, what was your experience, what was the context and what was the outcome?

Hi @Aileen Ciocon, thanks for joining the discussion. Your willingness to share helps make the investment community stronger.

With their “Get To Know You Fund”, outside of the perfectly crafted sales pitch, some additional things for potential LPs to consider:

* what is the underlying GP partnership structure? Do they have a documented partnership agreement they are willing to share?

* are you investing with the primary sponsor or a secondary sponsor? My experience with secondaries, like Blake Capital, has been very painful.

* are you investing directly in the deal, or in a fund of funds? Fund of funds was discussed earlier in this thread.

* are they being completely transparent with their investment resume? I have yet to see a GP admit to past failures, lessons learned, how they are doing things differently now for LPs.

Ask Blake Capital to share their investment resume with you, including when they were operating under the banner of Djuric Family Office.

Also out of curiosity, what is the criteria for earning the “reputable” sponsor tag and what evidence does an LP have access to to fact check it?

Best of luck in your investment journey.

Cheryl

Hi Melissa, sorry hear that, that's so unethical! When Waterford Grove failed I was told the same. I am surprised by the investor call, all we got were emails :)  

Thanks for sharing! I was an investor in Canopy Creek. This "current" investment failed and the property was sold in Dec 2023.

 Thanks for sharing! Where might an investor learn more about the nature of this lawsuit? 

Which is false based on this email sent to investors (note: redacted to protect privacy.)