Fox 5 Atlanta – Sam Leccima

UPDATE 6/05: Dale Russell comes through with a THIRD INSTALLMENT of the Sam Leccima story! 

UPDATE: Fox 5 Atlanta has a second part to the Sam Leccima Story!  Click Here!

Fox 5 I-TeamThere will be another installment of the Fox 5 Atlanta I-Team look into Flip This House and Sam Leccima tomorrow night, but the tonight’s segment is available online.  Simply click the photo or this link.

You may also be interested in reading Investigative Reporter Dale Russell’s blog, which has a number of very informative links.


66 Comments on “Fox 5 Atlanta – Sam Leccima”

  1. Floyd says:

    Wow. What a sleaze. And A&E replaced the Richard Davis crew with people like this. Brilliant.

  2. Steve Griggs says:

    After watching the Fox Atlanta investigation of Sam Leccima, I have to wonder why A&E didn’t do any kind of background check on business people they feature on their shows (the man’s real estate license was revoked BEFORE he began appearing on FLIP THIS HOUSE!) What’s even more disturbing is that not only did Departure Films (the production company) not do any kind of background check, but actually participated in deceptions portrayed as reality on the show. I think we all understand that time frames and conversations are edited for continuity and time but this Leccima guy didn’t even own the houses depicted in the show, nor did he sell them as portrayed in the graphics Departure Films put on the finished episodes! I’m guessing in addition to Richard Davis, A&E will now be in litigation with Departure Films.

  3. Sam says:

    This has got to have the Trademark Properties and Richard Davis legal team dancing in the streets of Charleston.

  4. clarence in nc says:

    The fellas at A&E should be very proud of their end product. :):)
    I bet Richard and the gang are yelling
    “Winner, winner chicken dinner.”

  5. Steve in Texas says:

    “The Leccimas became involved in the show after Angela Wilford, Realtor at Keller Williams Realty, presented them with the idea. Ms. Wilford, who watched and was inspired by the series last year, and who will be a familiar face on this season’s show, felt confident that she “could do the same thing” for Atlanta property.”

    From ‘Houston Real News”, archive. June 28, 2006

  6. Matt says:

    As a real estate investor myself, it really bothers me that there are people out there in the business world like this. Leccima is no better than any other theif and he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible.

  7. Steve Griggs says:

    Just watched part 2 of the Fox Atlanta piece and looked at A&E’s response on the reporter’s blog. Unbelievable! A&E and Departure Films have perpetuated a fraud and now A&E pleads ignorance! Leccima will likely be prosecuted for his part in this, but what about A&E and their production company? These 2 slimey companies need their practices carefully examined by the appropriate authorities.

  8. Stephen says:

    The real estate industry has been in a state of anarchy for decades. Leccima is one more pathetic example of the racketeering that real estate is.

  9. Sally says:

    So who is left on the show, the texans and the guys from New Haven?

  10. mike says:

    While I don’t care for A&E or Mr. Sam…the fact his license was revoked is kind of irrelevant. Plenty of people in this industry flip houses without a license, nor is a license required. A license can be revoked for a number of reasons, too, meaning it was not necessarily due to fraud.

  11. Derrick says:

    “It IS a TV Show!”

    This wasn’t an infomercial asking people to pay $49 for a real estate training course. So anything that happens on that show is for entertainment. If you blame A&E or Departure Films for anything, its for casting Sam because he ended up embarrassing them.

    Even parts of FTH with Trademark Properties where staged. (i.e. The college apartments rehab where the stove ‘accidentally’ went flying down the stairs)

    If anyone is trying to hold A&E or Departure responsible for “staging” then you need to watch the following shows…

    – Paris & Nicole’s – A Simple Life
    – Survivor
    – Joe Millionaire

    As a matter a fact, check out his wiki article about the B.S. that goes on behind the scenes on “Reality Shows”.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_television#Is_.22reality.22_a_misnomer.3F

    I guess the people that are complaining are the ones that were too cheap to buy a book on real estate investing and were using FTH as poor man’s tuition.

  12. Justin says:

    Not sure if anyone remembers Rick Duda from the staging company in one of the episodes. I remember because they were making fun of his name.

    Anyway this guy has released a statement on his company’s site saying he’s never done business with Sam Leccima or Angie Wolford, and his company was actually hired by Departure Films.

    Now the funny thing about this, is on the same page there’s a press release from last June that talks about Angie hired the company, because she knew the kind of work they did.

    Hell if you’re gona lie, at least not have information that discredits your story on the same damn page.

    http://www.homesdesignedtosell.com/PressRelease

  13. Steve in Texas says:

    Justin,

    “Anyway this guy has released a statement on his company’s site saying he’s never done business with Sam Leccima or Angie Wolford, and his company was actually hired by Departure Films.”

    “hired by”, as in ‘paid by’. Hair splitting at best. If I remember correctly, the landscaper was ‘paid by’ Departure as well

  14. Steve in Texas says:

    “When Richard Davis gazes upon a TV schedule peppered with real estate shows, he gives himself an appreciative pat on the back. His Charleston, S.C.-based company, Trademark Properties, “starred” on the first season of “Flip This House.” Davis is listed as executive producer in the closing credits of the shows. And he won fans with the eccentric characters on his team.

    “I started the genre, and everybody’s been trying to copy me ever since,” Davis said. “At the end of the day, real estate is the American dream. You had little home fix-up shows, but nobody ever showed you the business side of it.”

    Davis and the A&E network had a falling out after the first season. Davis claimed they wanted him to script episodes, which he rejected. And there was a disagreement about who actually owned the show — Davis or A&E. Meanwhile, Davis gathered up his marbles and went to TLC.”

    “I’ll tell you one thing,” Davis said. “My show is never scripted and never will be.”

    That was from Kansas City (dot) com

    Looks to me like Departure Films might have some credibility issues in the Trademark lawsuit going forward, given the recent Atlanta revelations. Departure Films is one of the defendants. A&E must be mad as hell! Can’t live with them, can’t live without them with the pending litigation! LOL

  15. Steve in Texas says:

    The further adventures of Sam Leccima…

    Auditions for reality show. ‘Media Partners Group Atlanta’ partnering with Sam Leccima (according to a commenter on Dale’s blog).

    “They are searching for aspiring entrepreneurs for the “demo” they are trying to get shot.”

    Entrepreneurs????”

    It’s Atlanta’s problem now and I’ll leave it at that. It’s on Dale Russell’s blog if you want to check it out under the “A&E response” entry/post.

  16. Justin says:

    Anyone else find it funny that now this story has broke, A&E doesn’t have FTH on at all tonight?

    They’re showing 24 all night, lol.

  17. Steve in Texas says:

    “While the show is similar to the one he did for A&E, there are differences, some subtle, some not.

    Not so subtle: the dropping of the world “flip” in the title.

    “I wanted to get away from that,” said Davis. “That’s like bell-bottom jeans.”

    While Flip This House emphasized property turnover, The Real Deal is not as much about making a quick buck. Because Davis is in a good financial situation, he can afford to hang onto redos for months — a preferable place to be when the market is running cold.

    Another difference: While Flip This House is all about homes, The Real Deal can be about homes, businesses and multifamily dwellings. For Saturday’s show (8 p.m., TLC), Davis converts a three-story apartment building into condos.

    A hard-driving man, Davis has been in the business 20 years, long enough to know that its cyclical and to be prepared for it.

    “Real estate is like a clock,” Davis said, explaining his philosophy. “At 12 o’clock everything’s working perfect and everybody’s making money. At 6, it’s the inverse. There’s a different clock for hotels and apartments, for everything. I try to jump on board when it’s coming out of 6 and ride it toward 12. When it gets to 11:30, I’m jumping off. I’m definitely not there by 12:05.”

    h/t – dg from the TLC ‘The Real Deal’ board

  18. Justin says:

    Hey Steve we should get in touch via e-mail.

  19. Hot Property says:

    Flip this show?…

    My wife, who treats HGTV like I do ESPN—meaning it’s the default channel for her when she sits down for a little TV viewing–occasionally gets sucked into some of those reality TV shows that emerged at the top of the……

  20. DUSTIN says:

    OK check this out due you really think A&E REALLY GAVE A #%^& BOTTON LINE THEY WERE IN THIS FOR THE RATINGS “I QUTO FROM
    A&E PRODUCERS WE WANT THE DRAMA THE PEOPLE LOVE IT”
    IN WAYS THE FLIP BIZ IS A NOSE TO THE GRIND BIZ AND IF IT’S THAT DAM EAZY I
    WANT TO JUMP ON BOARD WITH THEM.
    REAL QUIK I HEARD THROUGHT THE GRAPEVINE
    MR. MONTELONGO IS BEING SUED AS WE SPEAK T

  21. Steve in Texas says:

    “Not-so-real estate on ‘Flip This House’ Investigation reveals that home-flipping show may have sold bill of goods to viewers

    Investigation finds the A&E show may have sold a bill of goods to viewers.

    By ROBERT TRUSSELL
    The Kansas City Star”

    http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/story/121589.html

    Heh. Robert Trussell did a piece on flip shows around the beginning of May. After Dale Russel’s expose I emailed him the link to it ; )

  22. Micah says:

    Derrick,
    Flip This House is a reality tv show. While others have staged scenes – you mentioned the appliance “falling down the stairs” the overall premise is legitimate. While Survivor may recreate scenes, it remains a reality competition. Now, if Survivor were to turn out to be merely a well thought out ruse and every second was scripted and each “contestant” was actually an actor (a la Spike’s Joe Schmoe) then they’d be on the same playing field.
    Plus, if nothing else, Sam definitely used his appearances on FTH to legitimize his business moves.

  23. Steve in Texas says:

    Whoa!

    This is on Yahoo’s front page!

    `Flip This House’ star accused of fraud

    By DOUG GROSS, Associated Press Writer

    14 minutes ago

    “ATLANTA – On an episode of A&E’s popular reality series “Flip This House,” Atlanta businessman Sam Leccima sits in front of a run-down house and calls buying and selling real estate his passion.

    Now authorities and legal filings claim that Leccima’s true passion was a series of scams that included faking the home renovations shown on the cable TV show and claiming to have sold houses he never owned.”

    More…

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070601/ap_en_tv/house_flipper_investigation

  24. mark Lyon says:

    this is a test

  25. Steve in Texas says:

    Dale Russell will be doing another ‘Flip This House’ piece this coming Tuesday, June 5th ; )

  26. aubrey says:

    I just stumbled on this site, after reading about this scam artist on Yahoo News.. I am sickened, I always thought he did cheap work and was slimey.. Anyhow, I went to A&E’s website to investigate.. He is no longer on the website..and if you go to episode guide–all the episodes he is featured in are erased..

    Interesting.

    It goes from episode 14 to 16–skipping 15 (which Leccima was featured in, entitled “Baby Budgets, Baby Work”.. then it goes from 16 to 18 –skipping 17 (History Lesson), then 20 (Trouble Down Below) and 22 (All in the Family) are missing..

    They REALLY want to distance themself from him!

  27. Steve in Texas says:

    -Team: Flip This House, Pt. 3

    Angela Wilford’s official statement…

    “No comment”

  28. Steve in Texas says:

    Not much new with Dale’s last report other than a little more focus on Angie ‘no comment’ Wilford and the obvious complicity with ‘Departure Films’ to stage and fake the event as to what was really going on with to the viewers. Just my opinion of course ; )

  29. Steve in Texas says:

    Not much new with Dale’s last report other than a little more focus on Angie ‘no comment’ Wilford and the obvious complicity with ‘Departure Films’ to stage and fake the event as to what was really going on with it to the viewers. Just my opinion of course ; )

  30. Hopefully Dale will start to focus on Angela Wilford more because I beleived she played a part in the whole scam. i recently wrote about the situation at my blog.

  31. Steve in Texas says:

    A lawsuit sparked by a falling-out between the Charleston-based creator of “Flip This House” and the cable network that carried the reality television series will go on.

    U.S. District Court Judge C. Weston Houck ruled Wednesday that there’s enough evidence to suggest that the two sides made a verbal agreement to equally share profits from the show.

    In making the ruling, Houck denied a request by A&E Networks to dismiss the suit brought by Richard C. Davis of James Island-based Trademark Properties.

    A&E, which aired the real estate show until last summer, has said it never agreed to share revenue with Davis. He sued A&E last July, alleging that the network took his idea for “Flip This House” and did not pay him and his company their share.

    Davis is seeking damages in excess of $1 million.

    According to his complaint, Davis created the show in April 2004 and owns the rights equally with A&E under a verbal agreement with a network executive. Despite repeated requests, A&E would not confirm the arrangement in writing, his lawsuit alleged.

    Jeremy Feigelson, A&E’s attorney, argued Wednesday that if the evi- dence failed to show that the two parties reached an oral agreement to share revenue, Davis has no case. In three days of deposition, Davis was unable to prove that such an arrangement existed, Feigelson said.

    “The contract is not enforceable because there are too many missing pieces,” he said. “There’s no time, date, place — there was no agreement.”

    Davis’s attorney, Frank Cisa of Mount Pleasant, pointed in court to e-mails and other communications between Davis and A&E that made repeated references to the arrangement.

    Houck ruled that there was sufficient evidence that an oral agreement was reached.

    “I don’t believe it needs to be in writing for it to be enforceable,” he said.

    A&E’s attorneys declined to comment after the hearing.

    In a statement, the network said it looks “forward to A&E’s position being fully vindicated at the end of the day. Today’s

    ruling was a preliminary procedural step and not a decision on the merits of the case.”

    The case could go to trial by the end of the year.

    When Davis still was involved with “Flip This House,” the show centered on him and his co-workers as they snapped up properties to be fixed up and quickly resold, or “flipped.” After parting ways with A&E, Davis returned in late March on The Learning Channel with a similar show, “The Real Deal.”

    He was in court Wednesday but declined to comment about the case.

  32. Steve in Texas says:

    Link for the above…

    ‘House’ lawsuit to go to trial

    http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/jun/07/house_lawsuit_go_trial/

  33. Steve in Texas says:

    Statement from Angela Wilford on Dale’s blog….

    http://community.myfoxatlanta.com/blogs/DaleRussell

  34. Steve in Texas says:

    “Melina Montelongo” “appears” to have set up a blog on Fox Atlanta. This was posted at 3:00 AM

    MelinaMontelongo
    Jun 11, 2007 | 3:10 AM David and I have recently walked away from Flip This House for many reasons. We recieve hundreds of emails asking us if the last show was “staged”. David has refrained from talking about it until NOW.

    He will TELL ALL on a telecast on Wednesday Night. June 13, 2007.

    “Dear Friends & Associates,

    For over a year now you have peeked into my business life and have shared in some very fun and trying times with my family and myself. As I am sure you all know there have been many changes that have gone on within Montelongo House Buyers, and there is definitely more to the story than was presented to the general public, I want to share these very personal events with all of YOU. ……. ”

    Click on this link to get call in number and pin!

    click here to read more:

    http://www.tribeworkshop.com

    http://community.myfoxatlanta.com/blogs/DaleRussell/2007/06/08/Angie_Speaks_Out#comments

  35. Justin says:

    I posted on that blog, she can really save her statement for someone who’s completely stupid and will believe anything someone tells them.

  36. Steve in Texas says:

    Justin,

    But were they ‘complicit’ or ‘willing victims’? Let’s see what they have to say

  37. Sent says:

    Lol this gets better and better. I am sad to see Atlanta in such a bad light, but at least Fox 5 is doing some good work.

  38. GQ from Sac says:

    Im very disappointed in this whole issue of Sam leccima….Im an African American 23yr loan consultant that is studing to get my realestate license…and this dude is jus giving African Americans a bad name why couldn’t he be on the up and up… not a Con artist and the sad thing is he doing to his own people. thats really F***ed up. This dude is post to be a example for us young professinal black people and he is not far from it,I really hope this dude does FED time!! and I only one advice for him DON’T DROP THE SOAP cause you bend over the inmates will think that your are a sexy

  39. Dallas Realtor says:

    When you go to the website of the investors that Angie & Harris are supposedly consulting & contracting with, http://www.foundationsllc.com, they claim to do consulting work for want-to-be investors & they state that they’ve been in business since 2005. If that is the case, why would they need Angie to consult them on their renovations? Also, there is another agent in the office with Angie that now has the renovated properties listed for sale. It seems to be a lot of lies surrounding all of this mess. Also, one of the co-founders of Foundations Investment Group, Peter Pasternack, has a questionable past. I ran across this article on him.
    http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2004/08/02/newscolumn2.html

  40. Cynthia says:

    After all is said and done, you guys would be surprised to know that there are still people out that who are defending Sam and thinking that the people he stole from were crooked like him. Check out the long blog that’s talking about his lisense being revoked. It’s very sad.

  41. Billy Ray says:

    I have been a general contractor building and flipping homes for over 20 years. And I THINK ANYONE WHO BELIEVES SAM IS HONEST AND FOR REAL, SHOULD ALSO INVEST WITH WHIMPI ON POPEYE ” FOR A HAMBURGER TODAY I WILL GLADLY REPAY YOU TWO BACK WHEN I SELL THIS HOUSE NEXT TUESDAY” BUT WHAT YEAR SAM? READ THE FINE PRINT ITS 1FONT. I ALSO MUST BE ENTERTAINED AND laugh at some of these clowns who think that they can listen to a tape or dvd or study a course, ha ha ha come on now you are insulting the real forreal peaple who have years invested in the business. While there are those who get lucky I recomend don’t quit your day job!! Richard Davis I truely believe is for real. I’m sure he would tell you he did’t do it watching a dvd or tape. Just please know if on TV they say this is TRUE “THAT IS A FOUR LETTER WORD’ If it was as easy as they say, then almost everyone would be DOING IT!! DA!! My lasst flip I did in Washington I bought for 57,000.00 it was 4800 sq ft. inside it had been gutted I put in a total of 75,000.00 and really sold it for 369,000.00 I owed 139,000.00 on it so it can be done but remenber I have been doing this for 20 years. I bought it straight from Fannie-mae as a repo. My company did almost all the work. and I had a friend of mine who is an appraisor
    I knew before I started that when I was done the value would be between 350 to 375,000.00 SO If You want to flip PLEASE talk to a serous contrACTOR, real estate
    agent, inspector, and get a property profile from the title company before you even BUY IT AND YOU SHOULD DO OK BUT
    REMENBER YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO JUMP IN WITH NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OR EXPERIENCE BY YOURSELF AND MAKE 2 OR 300 K OVER NIGHT. GET REALLLLL!!!!! Maybe You should try watching WWF OR A MAKE BELIEVE MOVIE… GOOD LUCK, BILLY RAY IN SAINT LOUIS.. I AM STILL DOING IT FOR REAL…..

  42. Lifted from the A&E board…

    “Re: Atlanta Flippers
    Jul 19, 2007 2:02 PM

    * Report Abuse

    I had to come and post today b/c my husband and I just watched the Atlanta team flip a house on Van Epps Ave in East Atlanta. We don’t live too far from there, so we decided to drive by and take a look for ourselves. We found the house easily and what we noticed first was that it is still for sale. 2nd, if they paid $154,000 for it, they paid full price and some just judging by the surrounding neighborhood. You could pick almost any house on the street and flip it. Only a few further up the street looked nice enough for that price. So, in my opinion, they paid too much for it to be an investment home.
    Next, the contractors DID NOT clean up the back/side yard like they discussed on that particular show. Those yards are still strewn with construction debris and trash. Yes, trash! And the dumpster is still on the property.
    Barring all that, the front yard does look nice – although a LOT smaller than it looked on TV.
    We peeked in the windows and were surprised at how much smaller the rooms really are in comparison with how they appeared on the show. Then…
    SURPRISE!!! NO COUNTERTOPS!!
    I wondered why that particular show concentrated more on what was going on outside than on the work inside. The cabinets were installed, but had no tops! Therefore there was no sink. Nothing but a gaping hole all the way around. No wonder it’s still on the market.
    If you remember, on the show Angie said that a “storm had knocked the power out.” And she lit candles for the open house. NOT TRUE!!! The electricity is not even connected to the house. NO LIE! There are wires jutting out of the side of it – just hanging there.
    Plus, Angie told one of the potential buyers that they had brand new systems in the house. We went to the side of the house – NO HVAC unit! just a concrete block where it’s supposed to sit. Well!
    The basement renovation did look nice and I applaud them for adding the enclosed stairway to create access to the basement, but that is about all we saw that impressed us. And $300,000 in THAT neighborhood? NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Neither of us could see $75,000 + $20,000 overage worth of renovations to this little house. Looks like the Atlanta team members are not good stewards over their money.”

  43. Mike Voss says:

    Steve – well done.
    It sounds like the bs never stopped in Atlanta, and the Epps house is another smoking gun.

    I noticed a red flag with this show right off the bat. Clearly, the flip team had no clue about water incursion on a house. (Just FYI, water is the NUMBER ONE CAUSE of damage to residential structures. To be a builder/contractor/remodeler and not know how to deal with water is beyond ludicrous.) At one point, they speak about the water source as if it is a plumbing supply line becaus ethey say it’s flowing. The site showed no evidence of heavy rainfall, improper grade, or other obvious water source, so a plumbing leak would be simple to isolate and repair. Rather than do a proper evaluation of the problem by an expert, they hire a full-blown wet-basement company to come in and, apparently, install a full weeping tile system. I about fell out of my chair. Any chance of a profit was over right then. The crew was so incompetent they couldn’t even evaluate the problem, so they went out and struck a deal to promote the basement company and have them do a full blown job to get rid of a simple water incursion. Did you notice they never discussed what the cause of the water was? Becuase they would have looked like the fools they are if they had!

    Angie and her flunkees are as clueless as Armando. And that a-hole husband of hers – I can’t wait for the episode when he mouths off to the wrong person and gets knocked out for it.

    Mike

  44. Mike,

    It doesn’t end there ; ) last night I cut and pasted that post on Angela Wilford’s blog (as a submitted but subject to moderation comment). Within MINUTES this was posted on the A&E board! LOL ; )

    “By iagirl…

    Whew! You and your husband are quite the detectives!!

    1. I think the house was just put on the market this week. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.

    2. Sometimes investors put houses on the market even while construction is going on in hopes of a presale and most construction sites still have punch out items to address. This one is no different.

    3. Have you ever worked with contractors, vendors, and installers?? Good luck. It’s a miracle if things go smoothly.

    4. As for the HVAC unit, you can never be too careful. It’s common practice to put installation of the cooling units off until the very end.

    5. Price: Do you remember the May Ave. house?? It’s a couple hundred feet away and sold for $315k.

    BTW, I’m not Angie.”

  45. Mike,

    That whole water “issue” was really glossed over. I suspect it was an intentional product placement with a fabricated justification for it. I’m beginning to notice a pattern with that, IMO

  46. Mike Voss says:

    Steve – that looks like the shill post of the decade. I especially love the “BTW, I’m not Angie!” line – if I had any doubts that it was Angela Wilford, that erased them! Hopefully Doug will pull the IP – I’ll place my wager now that it comes back from Atlanta.

    And I LOVED the line “it’s common practice to put off installation of the cooling units until the very end.” Ha! WTF?!?! On what planet, Angie??? Nobody steals HVAC condensors except when they’re sitting new in boxes. That’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. HVAC condensing units are tied into air handlers by ‘linesets’, which are 2 different sized copper pipes (supply and return) and the control wiring to the thermostat and air handler. Not to mention the dedicated electric wiring – usually 220 VAC. These must be run through and inside walls, which must be done during ROUGH-IN, which is in the EARLY stage of a project, NEVER left until the end when the walls are covered and the house envelope closed in, etc. It also has to be INSPECTED during the electrical and framing rough-in – you DID permit your work, right Angie??!! “Cuz if not someone needs to call your local building and safety dept. and have them stop by that house and as a REALTOR you must know you cannot sell it until they do!

    Conclusion: The house was almost certainly a fraud and a crummy job done to fool viewers and potential investors/customers and that shill post by Angie or her flunkie is a pathetic attempt at damage control!

    Buyer/viewer beware!!!!

    Mike Voss

  47. Mike,

    If that wasn’t Angie then I’m the Pope! lol

  48. Mike,

    And NO electrical panel (if true)???? What’s up with that! LOL Must be another last minute “punch out item” ; )

    Bwahahahaha!

  49. Mike Voss says:

    Steve – it’s mighty hard to get a ‘meter spot’ (where the utility company comes out and tells you where you can mount the meter panel) when you don’t have a PERMIT!! Those CLOWNS!

    That house is screwed up, believe it!

    Mike

  50. Jeff in Roswell says:

    Guys, let’s not get too carried away. Listen, I’m with you. I think Angie and crew are bad news – I really think that they do shitty work and they DO lie about finishing these houses. I do have to say though that she is right about the A/C condensers. You’ve got to remember that she is doing these flips in sketchy parts of the city. Thieves will steal condensers for scrap or to sell on the black market – furthermore we have no idea if the line sets and the electrical were previously stubbed out. In all new and remodeled housing here in the Atlanta Metro, the HVAC systems are one of the last things to come on line. Hell, we’ve had all sorts of things stolen from constructions projects. I am wondering about the permit situation. I’ll bet that if they are not doing any major structural changes than they are not getting building permits – and that’s not unusual. They may be having a problem though with the electrical as they can’t get a meter without an electrical permit. If they have the interior wiring done then really all they have to do is get a licensed electrical contractor to get a “service upgrade” permit. Then, all the inspector will be looking at is the meter entrance and the panel box. It’s really not that big of a deal – it’s just getting somebody out there to do it. I’ll bet more than likely some unlicensed “homer” does all of the actual internal systems. That’s what usually happens on those projects and they can easily get away with it.

    Angie and her crew are clueless about renovations. They need somebody to actually look at these houses to begin with and ascertain the real needs. I think Angie’s husband is a tool. It’s as if he decided one day that he was going to be in the building business – and poof there he was.

    My thing is… if they had anything to do with Sam Leccima, then they are surely bad news.

  51. Mike Voss says:

    Jeff – I’ve never worked in ATL, but in every state/city I’ve worked in you have to get HVAC inspection signed off before you can close in, and that means linesets have to be charged which means connected. Is it different there? In CA, the logic is that you cannot close in over the lineset copper because there could be leaks inside the walls which would not be detectable until the line is charged. Basically it’s the same as with plumbing supply – they have to see it hold pressure before it’s closed in the walls.

    Mike

  52. Jeff in Roswell says:

    Mike, that way of doing things does apply here as well – when you are doing NEW construction and obviously with a building permit. I must admit I haven’t watched Angie’s latest “flip” but, the greater majority of “renovations” in Atlanta are not permitted. The City is so busy with other things that they can’t keep on top of everything and renovators exploit this. Even if a neighbor calls the permitting department, once they find out that no MAJOR structural changes are taking place, they may not even come out. So that means all of the internals such as HVAC, plumbing and electrical are done by homers and covered up. Is it right? Hell no it isn’t right but, that’s what happens and I’m willing to bet that is how Angie is operating. Permits take money and most of all they take TIME. The whole process of getting a building permit here is ridiculous, then the whole scheduling of the inspectors is a nightmare. Angie is cutting corners all over the place… do you really think she is getting a permit? Methinks not. I refuse to work in the City itself anymore because of the red tape. I have my Master Electrical Contractor License. We can actually go into a house that’s being renovated and rewire the whole thing and never have it inspected. The only thing that has to be inspected is the Meter/Entrance/Panel – and that’s because the power company requires it. So, with that being said – the HVAC contractor doesn’t have any outside utility that makes him get a permit, nor does the plumber, if there is a water meter already installed. Regardless, if a permit is pulled or not – all of our work is to code or beyond – I can’t take the liability of it not being right. Homeowners all over Atlanta are being shafted by poor workmanship… it’s really too bad.

  53. Jeff in Roswell says:

    One more thing… the homeowners are also to blame. They don’t care what is behind the walls, ceilings or crawl space. All they care about is what it looks like in the living space. All show… you know?

  54. Mike,

    I think I found it ; )

    “Permit No: BB200704300 NPU: W03 Issued: 06/15/2007
    Address: 1446 VAN EPPS AV SE
    Scope: ALTER A SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE
    Inspector: H. MARK BROWNING Cost: $85,000.00
    Contractor: CHAMPION PROPERTIES Owner: BRIAN CHAPMAN”

    http://apps.atlantaga.gov/citydir/dpcd/dpcd%20web/buildings/tz2007.txt

    Van Epps is a pretty short street, about 1,000 feet long. Anyway, that’s a ‘maybe’.

  55. Jeff in Roswell says:

    Did you notice a permit was issued on the same property in April? Not that it means anything…

  56. Jeff,

    I missed that! So, another contractor, and more $$$$! ; )

  57. Mike Voss says:

    Interesting – 2 permits in short timespan usually means something got missed or not included on the first one. Sounds like the state of building and safety dept. in that area is really bad.

  58. Lifted from the TWOP Forum…

    “FYI everyone: Brian from the Atlanta team is a friend of mine and it seems like no one is getting the scoop right on Foundations Investment Group (Brian and Peter). First of all, they are not a “gay couple”. Brian is a straight guy and is married. Secondly, Brian and Peter are business partners. Brian is not Peter’s assistant contrary to popular opinion. Thirdly, Peter is not the type of guy being portrayed on the show. He is a down to earth, nice guy. Lastly, Peter and Brian have dumped Angie and Harris’ butts. No need to explain further. Any questions???”

    Hmmm. Interesting.

  59. More from the TWOP Forum…

    “watergate

    Why did they get rid of Angie and Harris?

    atlinvestor

    I will leave that up to your imagination. Unfortunately, I cannot comment beyond that.

    watergate

    Come on ATLInvestor give us something ..is the Leccima mess behind this move ?

    atlinvestor

    Ever heard the saying, “the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree”? Peter and Brian are stearing clear of that tree.”

    Maybe it just me but when I see or hear the words “I cannot comment beyond that” I’m thinking lawsuit ; )

  60. “31 – Flip-Flop
    Sunday, August 19 1:00am ET
    Angie and Harris partner with a silent investor on what looks to be a great find in Atlanta’s desirable Kirkwood neighborhood.”

    No building permit. Unbelievable. No wonder I couldn’t find one listed for ‘378 South Howard Street’ during the show ; )

    “Angie Wilford is Atlanta’s newest real estate investing phenom and is taking the city’s investing market by storm.”

    http://www.aetv.com/flipthishouse/flip2_flipteams.jsp?index=5&type=character

    LOL

  61. Dallas Realtor says:

    The episode with Angie & Harris was a real joke. I guess the landscaper is considered to be part of the team. I have never seen such mess where a landscaper is included in the decision-making process of the actual renovation. Also, how did dumb-dumb not realize that there was no permit when they started the work? I don’t understand how the silent investor had money to pay for the work that was completed & not have money for the house note. Were the materials purchased on credit & the tree guy not paid, or did he pay for the materials, his workers, & other labor in lieu of paying the note? That situation was really weird, along with them going back to the property on several occasions after foreclosure proceedings just to dream. LOL

  62. Dallas Realtor,

    The “Silent Investor” if there was one
    had it right about one thing. ZERO profit potential for the neighborhood based on what was spent so far and what it would take to complete it when he allegedly bailed ; )

  63. Dallas Realtor says:

    Hey Steve…maybe I did not see that part. I did not watch the full show. It was such a joke. If there was zero profit potential that means that Angie & her team lied to the investor about the numbers OR they are all pretty slow. Someone did not do their research before investing in this property.

  64. QuantumJump says:

    Sorry for the late cominsky. I just saw the show, and looked at the house using the Van Epps ave and Maynard terrace intersection to locate the home. Google “photographed” the street in ’09 (according to copyright), and the for sale signs as well as the contractor (maybe roof, or landscaping, or whatever) sign is still up.

    The house number appears to be 1615 (or something close to that number…but an odd ending number for sure). If you use maps.google.com and use 1615 van epps ave se you will see the house (post flip), it’s the southeast corner of that T intersection.

  65. myvoice1 says:

    I watched one of the episodes with Angie and was extremely disgusted. I can’t believe investors would give money to someone who you can tell really has no experience flipping homes. I thought her and her husband were extremely unprofessional especially when ignoring phones calls from an investor when you dont have money yourself. Who does work on a home without getting permits? If Angie is still involved in real estate i hope its selling homes and now flipping them. Both her and her husband suck.


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