People Tricked By House-Flipping Scheme Linked to HGTV Stars Tarek El Moussa, Christina Hall Just Got a $12 Million Payout
Thousands of customers who signed up for expensive real estate seminars endorsed by HGTV stars are getting checks from the FTC.
Crooked company lured people in with ads featuring HGTV stars
The Federal Trade Commission is issuing refunds to more than 25,000 people who signed up for training programs from Zurixx, LLC. The seminars promised to teach them how to use the company’s system to make fast money flipping houses.
Advertisements for Zurixx’s seminars often featured the stars of real estate-focused reality shows, including Tarek and Christina El Moussa (now Christina Hall) from HGTV’s Flip or Flop, Hilary Farr from HGTV’s Love It or List It, and Peter Souhleris and Dave Seymour from A&E’s Flipping Boston. People were invited to attend a free event that was really a pitch for a three-day introductory seminary that cost $1,997. Attendees were then urged to purchase more courses and services that could cost up to $41,297.
In September 2019, the FTC and the Utah Department of Commerce Division of Consumer Protection sued Zurixx and its owners, Cristopher Cannon, James Carlson, and Jeffrey Spangler. A settlement was reached in February 2022. In addition to the monetary judgment, the defendants are permanently barred from selling any real estate or business coaching services.
“Many victims will finally be getting some justice. Thousands who were coached into fraudulent investments by Zurixx owners will receive checks from this substantial settlement,” said Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes in a statement.
Affected customers should begin receiving refund checks in August. They should cash the checks within 90 days, the FTC says.
Christina Hall previously defended the seminars
In 2016, ABC News reported on complaints about real estate seminars affiliated with Hall and El Moussa. One man said that he’d signed up for the “Success, Path, Education” seminar (which was run by Zurixx) thinking the pair would be at the event. But the HGTV stars did not attend the seminar in person.
“If you think you’re getting Tarek and Christina, you’re not going to get them,” Doug Stephens said.
“You’re going to get some sales pitch the entire time,” he said. Stephens added that he was “aggressively pushed” to buy more courses.
Hall, who was still married to El Moussa at the time, defended the seminars.
“I stand by our product,” she said. “It’s our tools, it’s our system. It’s what Tarek and I do. I’ve only heard very minimal complaints.”
Hall admitted that she typically did not attend seminars in person unless they were close to her home in Southern California. But she insisted that both she and El Moussa were heavily involved in the program.”
“This year, we’ll do over 100 houses,” she said. “This is our program. We meet each and every coach, we do training with them one-on-one. Tarek does tons of training via webinar.”
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