UK real estate investment gone bad

[Why]

7 years ago i started investing in this FCA approved UK based company crowdfunding properties, then setting up a Limited company to buy the property, and redistribute the rents minus their management fee. Everything worked smoothly for years with regular payments. But they seem to have turned rogue during Covid. Since then they are still running the same process BUT I recently verified and THEY ARE NOT BUYING THE PROPERTIES ANYMORE. So basically it seems they take the funds, still pay the “rent”, but the Ltd Cie doesn’t own any property. Alerted the FCA but they say they can’t do anything. What are my options?

 

[JohnnyDoe]

If it’s a Ponzi take your money out asap if you still can, and hide it as it might be subject to clawback. Ponzis are the best investments if you enter and exit early enough.

 

[Martin Everson]

What are my options?

Report the suspected fraud to the UK police and have it on record immediately.

What is the company name?

 

[Marshal]

Before reporting anything I would try to recover as much of your money as possible.

 

[Martin Everson]

I don't think OP is that stupid that he has not tried to get his money out immediately after discovering some info about the company......lol (I hope) . Hence why he is posting here looking for options is my guess.

 

[Why]

Report the suspected fraud to the UK police and have it on record immediately.

What is the company name?

Crowd2let.com

If it’s a Ponzi take your money out asap if you still can, and hide it as it might be subject to clawback. Ponzis are the best investments if you enter and exit early enough.

You can’t take the money put of a Limited company that easily, it is shares not cash

I don't think OP is that stupid that he has not tried to get his money out immediately after discovering some info about the company......lol (I hope) . Hence why he is posting here looking for options is my guess.

Thanks for not assuming i am not a complete idiot. If i could take my money out i wouldn’t have asked for help lol

 

[daniels27]

Are you Jon:

Crowd2Let.com is rated "Poor" with 2.6 / 5 on Trustpilot

Do you agree with Crowd2Let.com's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 13 customers have already said.

www.trustpilot.com

Do you know what properties you hold shares in? I mean the name of the SPV and the address? I think you can easily verify if the names SPV still owns that property.

Crowd2Let itself seems not to own anything.

 

[polonieth]

Crowd2let.com


You can’t take the money put of a Limited company that easily, it is shares not cash


Thanks for not assuming i am not a complete idiot. If i could take my money out i wouldn’t have asked for help lol

Not much about them online; I was expecting several negative reviews on Trustpilot, but there is not much there. The website looks like it hasn't been updated in 15 years.

How did you figure out they are no longer buying the properties? Companies House?

Rent paid to early investors is coming from new investors?

 

[Martin Everson]

OK it seems Crowd2let is just an Appointed Representative i.e its using the license of a bigger company to be regulated under the UK FCA.

You need to firstly ensure there is no misunderstanding between yourself and them and ask them to remedy your concern. If you are still not happy then follow the process and complain to the principal firm firstly and then to the financial ombudsman. Provide them with your evidence and let them all deal with it. If your case is strong then there should be some actions taken. Import is you document each step and all communication with all parties.

You can find below on FCA register details below of Crowd2let showing the principal license holder:

NewRegister

register.fca.org.uk

Principal firm:

NewRegister

register.fca.org.uk

Ombudsman:

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/make-complaint

 

[polonieth]

OK it seems Crowd2let is just an Appointed Representative i.e its using the license of a bigger company to be regulated under the UK FCA.

You need to firstly ensure there is no misunderstanding between yourself and them and ask them to remedy your concern. If you are still not happy then follow the process and complain to the principal firm firstly and then to the financial ombudsman. Provide them with your evidence and let them all deal with it. If your case is strong then there should be some actions taken. Import is you document each step and all communication with all parties.

You can find below on FCA register details below of Crowd2let showing the principal license holder:

NewRegister

register.fca.org.uk

Principal firm:

NewRegister

register.fca.org.uk

Ombudsman:

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/make-complaint

The principal firm is Prosper Capital:

Appointed Representatives – Prosper Capital

www.prospercapital.co.uk

 

[daniels27]

Yes but... They are not buying real estate. You but shares of an SPV they open for you. The SPV is banned after the address of the team estate you choose to invest.

How It Works - www.Crowd2Let.com | Crowdfunding Buy-To-Let Investment Properties

[one_third] The Angel Of The North - Gateshead [/one_third] [two_third_last] You join as an investor HERE to become a member of the Crowd2Let community and be able to view comprehensive reports on available Crowd2Let properties. You add any amount you choose, in multiples of £500, to your...

crowd2let.com

Hence
1 they don't but
2 it does not matter if the limited they form still buy

The question is where OP chose any real estate to invest in. And if, whether he knows the address, can find the limited in companies house and verify whether they own the land and building there without huge mortgage on it.

 

[Why]

OK it seems Crowd2let is just an Appointed Representative i.e its using the license of a bigger company to be regulated under the UK FCA.

You need to firstly ensure there is no misunderstanding between yourself and them and ask them to remedy your concern. If you are still not happy then follow the process and complain to the principal firm firstly and then to the financial ombudsman. Provide them with your evidence and let them all deal with it. If your case is strong then there should be some actions taken. Import is you document each step and all communication with all parties.

You can find below on FCA register details below of Crowd2let showing the principal license holder:

NewRegister

register.fca.org.uk

Principal firm:

NewRegister

register.fca.org.uk

Ombudsman:

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/make-complaint

Thanks for taking the time to reply.
I contacted Pr0sper Capit@l, but they are as shady as C2L.
I then contacted the FCA but they directed me to the FO.
The FO is merely a mediator, they have no power whatsoever, so they are pretty useless. The best they can do is to address complaints about quality of service.
Company House will list the Limited company that were formed. But when you check in the Land Regitery that's where you can see who actually owns the properties.
I only found out because I followed up and was starting to be served some very lame excuses as to why the properties were not sold way past their due date.

Are you Jon:

Crowd2Let.com is rated "Poor" with 2.6 / 5 on Trustpilot

Do you agree with Crowd2Let.com's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 13 customers have already said.

www.trustpilot.com

Do you know what properties you hold shares in? I mean the name of the SPV and the address? I think you can easily verify if the names SPV still owns that property.

Crowd2Let itself seems not to own anything.

Ye eah property has its own SPV. C2L does not own anything.

Not much about them online; I was expecting several negative reviews on Trustpilot, but there is not much there. The website looks like it hasn't been updated in 15 years.

How did you figure out they are no longer buying the properties? Companies House?

Rent paid to early investors is coming from new investors?

Land registry.
Not sure about new investors, I didn't put money in recently

Yes but... They are not buying real estate. You but shares of an SPV they open for you. The SPV is banned after the address of the team estate you choose to invest.

How It Works - www.Crowd2Let.com | Crowdfunding Buy-To-Let Investment Properties

[one_third] The Angel Of The North - Gateshead [/one_third] [two_third_last] You join as an investor HERE to become a member of the Crowd2Let community and be able to view comprehensive reports on available Crowd2Let properties. You add any amount you choose, in multiples of £500, to your...

crowd2let.com

Hence
1 they don't but
2 it does not matter if the limited they form still buy

The question is where OP chose any real estate to invest in. And if, whether he knows the address, can find the limited in companies house and verify whether they own the land and building there without huge mortgage on it.

Yes you know which property you invest in, you pay upfront to finance it

 

[TheCryptoAnt]

If it’s a Ponzi take your money out asap if you still can, and hide it as it might be subject to clawback. Ponzis are the best investments if you enter and exit early enough.

Scams pumps the hardest

 

[daniels27]

Ye eah property has its own SPV. C2L does not own anything.

Ok, but they ones you invested in, do you know the name of the SPV and can you confirm that your SPV owns the land you invested in?

If it’s a Ponzi take your money out asap if you still can, and hide it as it might be subject to clawback. Ponzis are the best investments if you enter and exit early enough.

A Ponzi does not work with SPV. In this case it is either fraud or not.

Can you please shed some light on the allegations?
1. Your investment into the SPV, do the SPV still own the land they should?
2. How do you know that there are new investments for which they are not buying the land if you are not investing? I think the guy is running this alone (from Company House documents, there is only one employee) and I doubt that he is investing in further marketing. This would explain why there have not been any new investments. He may just keep the ongoing investments running and take out the agreed management fees.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

A Ponzi does not work with SPV. In this case it is either fraud or not.

the fact that they setup SPVs doesn’t mean it’s not a Ponzi (which is also a fraud).

 

[Why]

Ok, but they ones you invested in, do you know the name of the SPV and can you confirm that your SPV owns the land you invested in?


A Ponzi does not work with SPV. In this case it is either fraud or not.

Can you please shed some light on the allegations?
1. Your investment into the SPV, do the SPV still own the land they should?
2. How do you know that there are new investments for which they are not buying the land if you are not investing? I think the guy is running this alone (from Company House documents, there is only one employee) and I doubt that he is investing in further marketing. This would explain why there have not been any new investments. He may just keep the ongoing investments running and take out the agreed management fees.

It’s fairly easy to investigate and they are not being very smart about it.
You invest in a project supposed to buy a property, they create a SPV and distribute shares -ro-rata, but the SPV doesn’t buy the property.