Flip This House Scandal: Reality TV Becomes a Flop (Part I)
June 14, 2007 by Maricel Ferrer-Custodio
Filed under Finance
Sam Leccima, the featured developer and property flipper from Atlanta, Georgia in the second season of A&E’s show called "Flip This House" is accused of being a scam artist. "Flip This House" is suppose to be a "reality TV show", but apparently everything was staged for TV. Leccima did not buy the properties, the renovation was not really how it was presented, there were no real buyers…to sum it up…no house was really flipped.
Here is a video report with details of how Sam Leccima just staged the show; I-Team:Flip This House reported by David Russel
*In this video Sam Leccima presented himself as a successful real estate mogul with "buying real estate as his passion". As a property developer, he buys old homes, renovates it and sells it for a profit. However in reality, he did not own the houses presented in the show and the renovation shown on TV were just patch-up jobs that were not even properly done. The Sold houses are still for sale, so all the profit presented on TV was just a big lie!
I-Team: Flip This House, Pt. 2
*In Part 2 of the video, some of Leccima’s investors have spoken on how they lost thousands of dollars by entrusting their money to his companies; Leccima Capital Partners and Leccima Hospital Trust. His impressive website, luxurious lifestyle and smooth talk convinced his investors that he was indeed a successful real estate mogul.
However, an investigation of his background in real estate revealed that his real estate license was revoked on the grounds of his deceptive behavior. It gave an impression that he is just a phony real estate mogul, who used his investor’s funds to finance his lavish lifestyle.
I-Team: Flip This House, Pt. 3
*In Part 3 of the video, a home stager further confirms that Leccima’s renovation work was just staged for TV. What he claimed will be finished in 14 days took more than 2 months to finish. It was staged twice for the show because apparently the first one did not came out right for TV. According to the home stager he was not surprised because the renovation of the house was not yet finished that time. To make things worse, the house was not sold; as shown on TV and is still for sale.
Around 12 people complained against Leccima with a total of more than $400,000+ in losses.
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I agree with you, flipping is not easy. Most of theTV shows are all fake and those guys are making their money off selling bogus courses, not flipping. There’s no get rich quick program worth buying. You can learn everything you need at the library. Check out my site, I am a San Antonio real estate investor and there’s tons of before and after pictures of my projects as well as helpful tips and online resources. http://www.tomtarrant.com
Tom Tarrant