'Flip This House' star accused of fraud

[kdonline]

'Flip This House' star accused of fraud
By DOUG GROSS, Associated Press Writer

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.

"This is, indeed, a con artist," said Sonya McGee, an Atlanta pharmaceutical representative who says Leccima took $4,000 from her in an investment scheme.

McGee and others say Leccima's episodes of "Flip This House," A&E's most popular show, were elaborate hoaxes. His friends and family were presented as potential homebuyers and "sold" signs were slapped in front of unsold houses. They say the home repairs — the lynchpin of the show — were actually quick or temporary patch jobs designed to look good on camera.


full story: 'Flip This House' star accused of fraud

[PeppyGPhiB]

Hmm...well that's too bad. I really like this show, though I'll admit that I only like this team slightly more than the Texas team. I can't stand the Texas company. I miss the South Carolina company, but they now have their own show on TLC.

I have to say I don't see how they could make everything just look like it was done. You either replace the floor or you don't. You replace the kitchen cabinets and countertops or you don't. You paint or you don't. Still, I know at least one of the houses they picked had bad foundation issues, and I doubt that was easily resolved.

[KSigkid]

My wife was a big fan of the show, but she has started watching "The Real Deal" on TLC, because the Trademark Properties group was the most entertaining.

There are a lot of ways to make things look like they are done. You can only paint/stain one coat (it will look done right afterwards, but will fade quickly). You can finish the front of cabinets, but not fully secure them to the wall. You can improperly install countertops.

My dad is a general contractor, and he tells stories all the time where he gets called to finish someone else's job. They make it look ok, get the money, but don't take the necessary steps to finish the job correctly. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't know anything about remodeling and construction, so they have no idea that a job is done badly until it's too late.

[Victor Ziegler]

http://www.flipthislawsuit.com/

There is a reason why Richard is on "The Real Deal" and A&E started featuring other groups. Interesting stuff in the link.

[AGDee]

I always preferred Property Ladder, which is based on first time flippers trying to figure out how to get into this business. The people seem more real and learn a lot because they make a lot of mistakes and never listen to Kiersten.

[Xidelt]

The local Fox affiliate in Atlanta broke this story a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty interesting and makes me doubt many of the reality tv shows where people flip property for a profit. One of the posters asked how the repairs can be fake since they look so real on TV. The reporter on Fox that put this story together ran some footage from the A&E show where Leccima was supposedly repairing a home and had hired a landscaper. The footage was slowed down and you could actually see the landscaper planting the flowers and bushes WHILE THEY WERE STILL IN THEIR POTS! When the cameras were done filming, the landscaper pulled all of the plants out of the ground and took them back to his nursery! They even interviewed the landscaper and he confirmed it! But it you didn't know to look for it while you were watching the show, you couldn't have spotted it.