04 May Jury finds Triangle firm committed ‘bid rigging’ – TBJ
by Lauren Ohnesorge, Senior Staff Writer, Triangle Business Journal
It was a bold business model. The Estates’ website outlines the plan, how the founders “built a company that tracks distressed properties in a given state.”
“We have many employees that work full time to pull in the best deals with the best spreads and returns,” the membership-based firm promises. Buyers pay 12 percent interest, the website says, with much of the work done for them by The Estates, which lists a Cary address.
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But De Leon and Da Costa – and a handful of similarly situated homeowners – pushed back, filing a federal lawsuit against The Estates through Chapel Hill attorney James White.
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White said the case, which first hit the federal docket back in 2019, stands out for its potential impact.
“There’s a lot of people who will prey on consumers, homeowners in multiple says,” he said. “When there’s an opportunity to do something. … when you can help them in such a direct and substantial way, it’s great.”
White’s co-counsel was Dhamian Blue of Raleigh. The case heard in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
