From Fox and Friends to Defrauding Investors

By George Khoury, Esq. on April 01, 2019 | Last updated on April 04, 2019

Clayton Morris, the longtime Fox and Friends anchor that recently stepped down from the show, is now facing several lawsuits accusing him of duping real estate investors through his company, Morris Invest. Now, those investors want their money back.

In short, the several lawsuits claim that Morris promised investors turn-key real estate investments in rental properties, but in reality was running a Ponzi scheme, at best. The investors claim they were led to believe they were purchasing rental homes that Morris would renovate, and then manage. However, last year, investors discovered that they had been lied to and many of the investment properties hadn't been renovated, and many were uninhabitable and uninhabited.

Broken Promises

According to the lawsuit, Morris's platform promised his investors financial freedom by becoming landlords. His company's concept is rather compelling. Investors buy their properties, and the company takes care of renovations, getting tenants, and managing the property. Investors, in turn, get a monthly rent check, less management fees.

Curiously, despite the fact that many investors did receive monthly checks, some odd inconsistencies started popping up, such as investors being contacted by local authorities due to the properties constituting nuisance or blight. One investor, who received monthly rent checks, was told by a city inspector that his property had been vacant during the time the investor was receiving those rent checks.

Morris's investment company has sought to distance itself from a third-party company, who it claims is responsible for all the problems the investors are dealing with. But notably, none of the investors filing suit were aware that Morris was not the owner of this third-party company, and email evidence allegedly shows that Morris specifically stated that he did own that third-party company when an investor started asking questions.

In one shocking scenario, an investor alleged he purchased a home that had been destroyed by a fire, but he was never told about the fire, until months later when the city issued him a tear-down notice. Apparently, the house had gone up in flames a few days before he even bought it.

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