Flip This Lawsuit

I need to clear up an issue that seems to be cropping up in some of the comments. 

This website, FlipThisLawsuit.com, is not owned or operated by Trademark Properties or anyone affiliated with them. Further, is it not affiliated with A&E or any of the replacement casts. 

Your humble webmaster is Mark Lyon, a law student and fan of the show who was quite disappointed in A&E’s sudden change in cast, lack of notice to viewers, and lockdown of the message boards when viewers posted there that they were unhappy with the replacement cast.

I encourage all points of view here.  If you disagree with one of my postings, please feel free to express that disagreement in a comment.  Unlike A&E, I’m happy to let you have your say.

The Georgia Real Estate Commission finally sent me information about Samuel P. Leccima’s real estate license and the reason that it was revoked.  First, let’s look at his certification.  He got his license in 2002, and except for a few periods of inactive status, he remained licensed until September of 2005.

But then there’s the revocation.  I will let you read it for yourself, but it appears that Mr. Leccima had several problems throughout his career as a real estate agent that involve some seriously questionable dealings. 

In one 2002 deal, a purchaser’s earnest money was not returned when the deal didn’t go through.  The administrative court found that Mr. Leccima altered the contract after the deal was signed, and was involved in some curious financial dealings. 

In 2003 there was another property that failed to close.  Mr. Leccima claimed to be working for a real estate company that he was not actually affiliated with.  The administrative court found that Mr. Leccima failed to deliver the sales contract to the purchaser.  Once again, earnest money was not returned when the deal didn’t complete.  The administrative court further found that Mr. Leccima added the language “After inspection, earnest money is nonrefundable” to the sales contract without authorization or consent after it had been signed.

Additionally, the administrative court found that in 2004 Mr. Leccima represented on a website that he was affiliated with a real estate firm that he was not then affiliated with. 

Mr. Leccima didn’t respond to the Georgia Real Estate Commission’s examination of his actions, and his license was revoked.  I’ve contacted Mr. Leccima via email and asked him to comment on his license revocation and received no response.

On Flip This House, Mr. Leccima hasn’t represented that he is a licensed Real Estate Agent.  Many, however, have been quite curious about the new cast – perhaps A&E should have more carefully screened its new cast members  as a number of individuals look up to the successful businesspeople who appear on shows like Flip This House.

Both Richard & Trademark responded to A&E’s counterclaim.  They denied the substantive parts of the counterclaim, which is addressed more fully in an earlier post.  The pertinent documents:

• Docket as of 08/27/06
• Answer to Counterclaim by Trademark Properties
• Answer to Counterclaim by Richard Davis

Hey Yall!

I cannot tell you how much your continued support means to everyone at Team Trademark!  It has been unbelievable.  I just wanted to update everyone!  We are still filming and things are going great!  The new show is still unnamed but we will let you all know the details the moment we get them.  I just want to ask everyone to please continue to make your comments on http://www.imdb.com/ under the “Flip This House” page (you can search for it on the homepage). This is where we are getting the word across with the most emphasis!  All of the networks look here so it is where support is needed the most! 

Ya’ll have been awesome, we honestly have been speechless–which is hard for all of us–over the kindness and loyalty from each of you.  We plan to repay you with lots of great entertainment in January! 

Many of you have been to the Crab House or by our office, but I would like to make sure everyone knows to please stop by the office and say hello if you are ever in Charleston, it means the world to us when you do! 

Thank you all so much and we will continue to send updates as we have them! See you soon!

Ginger
 
PS. Jack is doing great and actually listens to me now for those of you who are wondering! :)

Several other sites have noticed the events going on with Flip This House.  You might want to check them out as well:

• “Two A-Holes Flip A House”
• TV Squad Blogger Anna Johns

An interesting article in the “Houston Real News” - a publication for Houston Real Estate Investors.

A&E, whose Flip This House’s second season premier revolted countless viewers, further enraged their audience by removing the FTH page and threads from the Network’s Web site. The FTH message boards became inoperative as of mid-day July 25.

Viewer complaints about Network “censorship” first arose three weeks ago as FTH, featuring San Antonio’s Montelongos, was broadcast. Message boards claimed that A&E deleted pages of negative comments that flooded the FTH boards.

“As Mulder would say, the truth is out there. And no matter how many posts from numerous members A&E deletes, at least they know that we know how horrible it was. Delete away, we’ll just keep posting new messages,’ wrote All Flip and No Lip.

This week we find ourselves back in ATL with Sam Leccima and his team.  They pick up a rather nice house in Atlanta’s West End.  They whip it into shape and turn out a decent product with much less of the scripted drama.

Of course, I’d be careful walking anywhere.  The construction supervisor almost went through it right before the open house.

I’ve yet to discover why his wife feels the need to wear blue jeans with the button undone and the fly open.  Don’t they make pants for pregnant women, especially those who know that they are on TV?

A&E and Departure Films have removed the case from the local South Carolina Court of Common Pleas to the Federal District Court for South Carolina. This has the practical effect of making the documents I post here cost money. Other than that it doesn’t really impact the case too much, other than the potential benefits to A&E and Departure Films of having a different jury pool.

A&E and Departure Films filed a counterclaim against Trademark and Richard Davis. The Defendants claim that Trademark failed to honor the terms of the agreement for Season Two, causing them to resort to a replacement cast. In their answer, they preface the counter claim with the following:

“These counterclaims arise out of Richard Davis’s failure to honor an agreement that he reached with AETN to participate in a second season of AETN’s lifestyle reality show ‘Flip This House.’ The central allegations in Davis’s complaint bear no relationship to reality because AETN and Davis never made any agreement that remotely resembles the terms he alleges. It has always been understood and agreed by all parties, including Davis and Trademark, that AETN exercises final creative authority over ‘Flip This House,’ owns all legal rights in the show, and receives and controls all revenues associated with the show. AETN and Davis reached only one agreement, and Davis broke it. They agreed that Davis would appear in a second season of ‘Flip This House,’ with AETN remaining in its position of creative, economic and legal ownership and control. Davis, however, walked away from this agreement without explanation and publicly announced that he was affiliating himself with a competing network.”

They further claim:

“The first season of ‘Flip This House’ was produced under an agreement between AETN and Departure Films, an independent production company, and a separate agreement between Departure Films and Davis. Neither agreement provided Davis with any rights in the show, any control of the show or any compensation. Davis initially did not seek or receive any direct compensation for his participation in the show because he viewed ‘Flip This House’ as a powerful form of advertising for Trademark, which he hoped to expand or franchise on a national basis.”

So, without further ado, I present you with the current documents:

• Current Federal Court Docket
• Notice of Removal
• A&E and Departure Films’ Pre-Discovery
• A&E and Departure Films’ Answer to the Complaint and Counterclaim
• Certificate of Service of Notice of Removal
• Clerk’s Receipt of Notice of Removal (and attachment)
• Amended Certificate of Service of Notice of Removal
• Amended Notice of Removal (with attachment)

Samuel P. Leccima of the Atlanta-Based Season 2 cast of “Flip This House” had his Real Estate License revoked on September 26, 2005 according to page 18 of the Georgia Real Estate Commission’s list of sanctions since July 1, 2001.

I contacted the Commission to request a copy of the public file only to discover that the file is not available.  Once I am able to get the documents that indicate the offense that caused his license to be revoked, I will post them here.  Additionally, I will contact Mr. Leccima so that he may respond with his explanation of the situation. 

During my conversation I learned that a New York-based producer from A&E had also contacted the Commission earlier in the week.

The State of Georgia statute 43-40-25 indicates that a revocation will occur only in extreme circumstances:

(a) … whenever a license, a school approval, or an instructor approval has been obtained by
false or fraudulent representation; or whenever a licensee, an approved school, or an approved instructor has been found guilty of a violation of this chapter, or of the rules and regulations promulgated by the commission, or of any unfair trade practices, including, but not limited to those listed in this Code section; the commission shall have the power to take any one or more of the following actions:
… (4) Revoke any license or approval;

Edit: We have since obtained Sam Leccima’s Real Estate License revocation documents.  You can read the decision that resulted in the license revocation. Finally, Fox 5 Atlanta has recently run two segments focused on Mr. Leccima and his activities both on and off of the show.

Several have asked that I post the contact information for A&E.  It is as follows:

Ms. Abbe Raven, CEO
A&E Television Networks
235 East 45th St.
New York, NY 10017

ABBE RAVEN (CEO)
Abbe.Raven@aetn.com

WHITNEY GOIT (SR. EVP)
whitney.goit@aetn.com

ROBERT DEBITETTO (EVP)
robert.debitetto@aetn.com

COLLEEN CONWAY
(Director of Non-Fiction Programming)
colleen.conway@aetn.com

GENERAL EMAIL: ae.viewerrelations@aetv.com

ABBE RAVEN (CEO) LINE: (212) 210-9007
GENERAL TELEPHONE: (212) 210-1400

Remember, when contacting A&E it is best to be polite and explain your disappointment.  If you are going to communicate in an angry, irrational, or hostile manner, sit on your hands.

We’re back in San Antonio with the Montelongo replacement cast again.  In S2E1 they were proud of being both incredible businesspeople and also being cheapskates at the same time.  This time, we’re watching the guys waste money on petty games between themselves and their wives, and their cheap contractors stole their cabinets.

For some reason, it was not a big deal when the wives stole their workers, but when they stole the wives’ workers, it was time to fire the contractor.  Additionally, for some reason, they got the beer barn chicks to pressure wash the house and clean up trash piles in the yard (I guess they are too cheap for a dumpster).  I still fail to see how their presence is going to “break up homes” as the wives claim, unless it will cause them to realize they married complete losers.

In what appears to be a common theme between the San Antonio and Atlanta replacement casts, it seems that the Montelongos also break into their houses before buying.  At least they didn’t make it so obvious as the ATL cast.

I, for one, am incredibly disappointed in A&E.  I watch a number of their shows, but after seeing what they’ve done to the Trademark Crew, I just turn off the TV.

It’s quite deceptive that A&E is airing Season 1 before each Season 2 episode.  We see a good version of Flip This House and then get stuck with absolute trash.

Following is a press release issued shortly after filing the lawsuit.

TRADEMARK PROPERTIES FILES MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR CIVIL ACTION AGAINST A&E OVER “FLIP THIS HOUSE”

Martin Singer of Lavely & Singer Retained to Lead Case for Plaintiff

Charleston, SC (July 24, 2006) – Trademark Properties and its President/CEO Richard C. Davis have filed a multi-million dollar civil action against A&E Television Networks and Departure Films in connection with the reality television series “Flip This House,” which aired on the network this past season.

Among nine causes of action, the complaint alleges fraud, breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair business practices by A&E, which failed to codify deal points into a written agreement, paid nothing to Trademark Properties for its original series concept and involvement, and is now launching a second season “without Plaintiffs’ approval, participation, or otherwise providing any compensation.”  The civil action, which also requests a jury trial and an injunction restraining A&E from exploiting the series any further, was filed in the Court of Common Pleas, Ninth Judicial Circuit, State of South Carolina, County of Charleston by plaintiff’s attorney Frank M. Cisa of Cisa & Dodds, LLP.  Trademark Properties has retained well-respected entertainment attorney Martin Singer of Lavely & Singer to lead the case.

“In my over 25 years of practicing entertainment litigation, this case involves one of the most outrageous acts by a television network.  My clients’ television show that they have worked on for several years has been taken by A&E, and my clients have not been paid one penny by A&E. We are looking forward to the jury  vindicating my clients in this matter.”
According to the complaint, in April 2004 Davis and Trademark Properties created a digital video pilot originally titled “Worst To First,” which featured Davis and certain Trademark staff members going through the process of locating, acquiring, refurbishing and selling houses.  After a DVD of the pilot and written treatment were “enthusiastically” received by A&E, the network requested an in-person meeting, held in June 2004.  At that time, A&E expressed interest in producing and televising the series, subsequently renamed “Flip This House.”  At this meeting, Davis stipulated that Trademark and A&E must be equal 50/50 owners of the project, that they share equally in all net revenues and proceeds, and that A&E pay for all production costs, among other discussed provisions.  A&E explicitly agreed to these terms and, based on that agreement, Trademark permitted A&E to retain Departure Films to produce an initial 13 episodes of the reality series.

Trademark alleges that A&E promised to prepare a written agreement, yet despite repeated requests and assurances, no written agreement was ever prepared during the production and airing of the first season, nor did A&E provide any monetary compensation to Trademark.  “A&E never intended to prepare or deliver to Plaintiffs a written agreement,” according to the complaint, and willfully induced Trademark to allow A&E to use its “valuable concept and format.”  In effect, Trademark alleges, the network “misappropriated and stole Plaintiff’s project for A&E’s own use and benefit.”

Trademark Properties is headquartered at 1175 Folly Road, Suite C, Charleston, South Carolina 29412.

The following was posted in late late February or early March.

It’s a home ‘flip off’
The second season of A&E’s “Flip This House” show is on the horizon and producers are looking for a real estate company that buys homes, quickly renovates them, and sells them for a profit. The chosen company will be one that has a team of characters who can “walk & talk” the cameras through their daily adventures in “flipping,” according to the casting call announcement. Companies should flip at least 10 homes per year. If you think your company is a good fit, send an e-mail with contact info and a brief bio of yourself and the company to 813 Casting at fth2@813casting.com.
–Jessica Swesey, Inman News