womeninpropertyinvestment

Passive Investments Clients Offered Help for Free

The property community is offering support to Passive Investments clients as an alternative to them sending Tudor Equity (the "new" Passive) another £2,500 and £10,000 from any property they have bought for them.

If you are one of Passive's ex clients who does not see the value in giving another £2,500 to people who have already used up what appears to be in the region of £10m of client's money and claim there is nothing left, and you would like to explore the option of receiving a property, without any finders' fee charge and no back-end charge, sourced in your local area, where possible (and if this is your preference), contact:

Paul Alcock via:

www.paulalcock.com or www.propertydeals.biz

Several well respected property sourcers have agreed to help and a mortgage broker has also agreed to source mortgages for no broker fee either.

I will be pleased to assist with the necessary due diligence and locating letting agents, tenants, etc.

Also, Vanessa Warwick has offered the following:

I propose an educational day for Passive clients where they can network together and support each other and receive some free training/education that delivers authentic value without any kind of sales agenda.  I think they would find that practical and helpful, not to mention refreshing. 

---

Vanessa Warwick
Professional residential Landlady and twitter/forum addict
www.4wallsandaceiling.com
Follow me on twitter: @4_walls

Vanessa has said she will put this day together in Weybridge and already has a number of ex-Passive clients who have contacted her with interest.

Finally, you can also join the group action to obtain the return of your lost funds if (and only if) you wish.

Feeling sorry for Andy Shaw & Greg Ballard?

Yesterday I received a call from a chap who put down a £45,000 deposit on a villa in Cyprus being marketed bby Andy Shaw through ASI (presumably Andy Shaw Investments) in Chichester.  After his money was bounced from one failed purchase to another, he finally decided the investment wasn't happening and he requested its return.  You can guess the rest.  Apparently, he is one of 11 people in the same position and yes, he had been told that the money would be held in a safe, separate account. After all, these were DEPOSIT FUNDS for a property purchase, not money given to Andy to use as he saw fit. If everyone invested the same, this amounts to almost half a £million!

Yet I know there are still people out there who will be feeling "sorry" for Greg and Andy and probably saying that people should have done their own due diligence and that those who invested cash personally on which Andy & Greg promised to pay interest (and were doing up until early this year when the contracts started coming to an end and the money was due back) had to accept that with big reward came the big risks.  Do they have a point?  After all, the credit crunch has hit many, hasn't it? 

My comments are as follows:

1. I always agree, and advocate, that people should do their own due diligence before getting into an investment.  Passive Investments' (check the name) business model appealed to, and was marketed to, those who (a) did not understand property investments, and many not have understood enough to realise HOW to do such due diligence, and (b) those who did not have the time to do the work themselves.  An excerpt from their STILL LIVE website states: 

   "Our experts manage the entire process from start to finish allowing you to focus your energies on your family and working life. This is why we are called Passive, and why we are the investment choice of professional people seeking security for their future, or retirement.

   Passive Investments will save you time, because we deal with all of the complex processes and legal matters on your behalf. We also save you money because our knowledgeable teams understand the buy-to-let market inside out, we know how to manage property efficiently, how to minimise costs and maximise value."
2. Those who invested their unsecured cash did so for a fixed period,mostly personally providing this money to Andy & Greg. They received a very good interest rate. Presumably Andy & Greg used this money to purchase properties with the intention that they would refinance and pull out the money to repay the individuals before the cash was due back.  Their defence now is that the market has fallen and they are currently unable to pull out the money which is locked in the properties.  Andy, who has always been very vocal about having an uncanny knack of always being right about the markets, obviously did not predict what was going to happen but, even so, Passive claimed their system could refinance quickly and they had 2 or 3 years (depending on lengths of agreements) notice that the money was due back! In addition, they stopped paying the interest earllier this year because they had no cash flow. How come? One of the great things about the current financial market is that my cash flow from properties has increased enormously. Greg & Andy claimed to have (depending on who they spoke to and when they said it) 200+ properties.
3. Various estimates from ex staff state that there were possibly 150+ investors involved in the portfolio build. Even if there were only 100 who paid an average of £37,500 each (some paid less, some more), we're looking at close to £4million. They paid this money for a 6 year service yet Greg claims all the money has gone and cites that he has had staff and premises to pay for. Many people have not even received one property yet!
Surely, if you commit to someone to provide a service for 6 years and you take £37,500 from them to do this, wouldn't you ensure the money would be spread to pay for the necessary resources over this period of commitment?  To blow all the money before you've provided the full service is bad management and, as far as I can see, nothing whatever to do with the credit crunch, unless... they've used that money to purchase property for themselves. Is this legal?  I believe this is purely bad management.
 
Some people have also said that Passive were right to continue plying their wares. They were at the Property Buyer's Show about 3 weeks ago (those stands are not cheap!) looking for new clients. At that time, and at the time they took fees from people, and at the time Steve Howson was telling people their money was safe, Greg was also telling others that he could not pay them back, that the VAT and tax people were onto him and he did not have the funds to pay and Passive already had at least one court judgement against the company for almost £7,000.  I do not believe they were right to continue bringing in more people. I believe it was dishonest. They were selling a service they knew they could not provide and they must have known the company would not be around for the long haul. Greg actually told people, individually, that if they rocked the boat it would stop others signing up which would mean he would not be able to bring in the money he needed to pay them. Anyone heard of Berni Madoff? A massive Ponzi or pyramid scheme - a little like the UK government pension plan that Greg & Andy said their product was an alternative to!
 
My final belief is that they had a great business model but they got greedy and forgot that the universe demands you provide good service to others in order to benefit from wealth.  They did not provide a good service once they had received people's money (as many of you know, I found this out to my cost when their inefficiency led to me getting slapped with a CCJ - full story earlier on this blog) and they began providing shoddy properties (some currently unlettable!) and charging a lot of money for "renovations" that were not worth the cost.  Anyone who complained was treated with contempt and told they were a solitary unhappy client. Now we are finding out the truth.
 
So, do you feel sorry for Andy and Greg? Well they have closed down many companies and walked away from debt before but I believe these were previously company debts through their double glazing firm rather than people's inheritances, pension funds, mortgage funds, etc. This time it's personal, yet, through Tudor Equity they appear to be gearing up to continue the model, with someone else in the director's seat (due to Greg & Andy's looming personal bankruptcies) but with Greg Ballard "available to help and advise us when necessary". One comment I received yesterday was "Greg pulling the strings".  So will this company be run any better?  I sincerely hope none of the Passive Investments clients who have received letters from Tudor Equity sign new contracts with them for the "small contribution of £2,500" and a reduction in Acquisition Management fee to only £10,000 per property when it looks like any properties with charges in favour of Passive Investments may be free of those charges (to be confirmed) when Passive goes into liquidation.
 
Finally, Knowledge to Action yesterday sent out a joint venture email promoting a video by "Andy Shaw and Greg Ballard, Multi-millionaire Property Investors".
 
Now perhaps the content is good, after all, 30 seminar attendees allegedly paid £5K each to attend (there's another £150K, less costs!), but what is the definition of "multi-millionaire" these days?  This kind of marketing, when you know what's going on in the background, affects us all. It gives a bad name to those of us who are genuine millionaires (and for clarification, I'm talking net worth (EXCLUDING BORROWINGS!) rather than £1m lying around in the bank).  I'm sick of individuals who lie & cheat others. They are not the first (I was also used by one other after Passive, and had to get involved in sorting that out, too, with both time and money, but it was nowhere near on the scale of the Passive debacle) and unfortunately, I'm sure they won't be the last.
 
I think the saddest part of all this is not whatever becomes of Andy & Greg, nor even the amounts of money people have lost - people who may never have that kind of money again and people who are left to repay the money borrowed from mortgages and loans - but the fact that many of these people will never trust anyone or another investment again. That's very sad.
 
 

Greg Ballard, Andy Shaw, Passive Investments Final Straw

The latest regarding Passive Investments will affect you whether you have a portfolio product or have loaned money to Ballard Shaw (also known as Surranan Limited).

 

As I said in my last post, the latest is that Greg & Andy are being sued for bankruptcy and have hearing dates set for November and December in Brighton.  They are not contesting the petitions.  This may be because they have no or few assets in their names.  I understand Greg may have sold his cars, at least on paper, although they were still on his driveway recently. 

 

The house in which Greg Ballard now lives (having remortgaged his home in Worthing and rented it out) was purchased for £1.1m last year with a mortgage in his wife's name (Helen), who states she is a housewife. 

 

Property "Expert" DVDs

 

Greg and Andy have been plugging DVDs of their workshops by e-mail over the last few weeks and as recently as last Thursday sent an offer to acquire one of ‘only 200 copies’ at a knock-down price  so they can teach people how to invest in property since they are such experts.   By the way, I am told (not verified) that Andy has had several properties repossessed - do you want to learn from someone like this? 

Money Loaned Unsecured  

If you are amongst those who loaned them money with no security, you need to check your letter to see to whom you loaned it as you may have a claim against Andy/Greg directly, (in which case the bankruptcy will be of particular interest to you), or to Ballard Shaw / Surranan Limited, in which case, read on...

 

Th notice of liquidation of Ballard/Shaw, under what is apparently its new name of ‘Surranan’ was posted in the London Gazette on October 26^th with the hearing being held on 13 November in Fareham:

 

 

SURRANAN LIMITED

(formerly Ballard Shaw Limited)

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to section 98 of the Insolvency Act

1986, that a Meeting of Creditors of the above-named Company will

be held at the offices of Portland Business & Financial Solutions Ltd.,

1640 Parkway, Solent Business Park, Whiteley, Fareham, Hampshire

PO15 7AH, on 13 November 2009, at 11.30 am, for the purpose

mentioned in sections 99, 100 and 101 of the said Act. In accordance

with the provisions of section 98(2)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1986, Carl

Derek Faulds, of Portland Business & Financial Solutions Ltd., 1640

Parkway, Solent Business Park, Whiteley, Fareham, Hampshire PO15

7AH, being a qualified Insolvency Practitioner, will furnish Creditors

with such information concerning the Company’s affairs as they may

reasonably require.

G J Ballard, Director

26 October 2009. (962768)

 

 

You should immediately contact Derek Faulds of Portland Business & Financial Solutions Ltd to register your claim.  Phone number is:  Tel: 01489 550 440.  If you are a known creditor and you did not receive notice of this meeting, you should have.  Do point out to Faulds that this did not happen.

 

 

Portfolio Build

 

If you have a portfolio build contract, read on...

 

 

Here is a link to a site where you can find brief details on Tudor Equity and Alexander Philips, showing their registered office (the same) and date of registration.  Just search for their name.  https://secure.creditgate.com/ .  You will find that Tudor Equity has just been registered earlier this month.  Both companies are registered at the same address as Passive Investments:

 

Company Name: ALEXANDER PHILIPS LIMITED
Company No: 06970810	Registered Office:
Incorporated: 23/07/2009	A2 YEOMAN GATE YEOMAN WAY WORTHING WEST SUSSEX BN13 3QZ

 

Company Name: TUDOR EQUITY LIMITED
Company No: 07069736	Registered Office:
Incorporated: 08/11/2009	A2 YEOMAN GATE YEOMAN WAY WORTHING WEST SUSSEX BN13 3QZ

 

It would appear that what Mr Palmer said they would do has probably happened.  The assets of Passive (the restrictions/charges on the properties) have been passed to the new company, probably for a nominal purchase fee.  Interestingly, there is information on Portland Financial Solutions' website about this:

 

http://www.portland-solutions.co.uk/forthcomingEvents/viewNewsRelease.cfm?iNewsReleaseID=60

 

Tudor Equity is now kindly writing to some portfolio investors with the kind offer of reducing this charge to £10K and continue to provide their wonderful management and build services IF they pay another £2,500.  The letter from Passive (Greg Ballard) does state "all the Portfolio Builder Contracts will die with the Company."  So where does this leave people who have restrictions and charges on any property, which are the only assets that Passive could possibly pass on?

 

Not all investors have received this offer but then not all properties have charges and restrictions.  I would suggest that if you have one or more properties, you first obtain details of your property from the Land Registry to see whether there are any aside from that of your mortgage company.  If not, the only hold they ever have on requiring you to pay this would be via the contract so do you want to sign a new contract with their new company (even if you planned to) until you have investigated the current status of any charge.

 

I also know that some people paid £37,500 already and have not received ANY properties so may be thinking that for another £2,500 it would at least buy you something, but you should be aware that Passive already have many unhappy clients who say their service is terrible and many properties they have purchased have often turned out to be problematic.  Mr Palmer claimed that around 40% of their properties remain unlet.  You would also have to find the additional funds for deposit (£30K). Are they really doing anything for you that you cannot do yourself?  Since they have admitted to many clients that they were unable to continue due to the "credit crunch", at a time when there have been bargains to be had, I very much doubt it. 

 

Rather than pay any more money to them, I would personally feel the money would be better spent taking any necessary steps to have the restriction/charge removed.

 

The question that remains unanswered is "what have they done with all the money?".  This was money that was paid to them to provide a 6 year service. The fact that it's been used up in just a few months in some cases and many people do not even have one property yet, tells you a great deal about their business abilities and ethics, in my opinion. 

 

Do also remember that they have closed down several companies before this one and that it appears they have every intention of continuing in a business dealing in property equity and are obviously hoping that the new companies (still being run by Steve Howson and Greg's relative, Neil Ballard, and "advised" by Greg Ballard) will take over the restrictions on the properties they have bought for people.  Therefore, if they are allowed to get away with this, they still have a nice future to look forward to since they will have dumped all the debts of Passive. 

 

Passive Investments - Greg Ballard & Andy Shaw Latest...

I'm told Greg Ballard is in Brighton bankruptcy court on 14 December and Andy Shaw on 21 December.  Rumour has it that a new company called Alexander Phillips (sp?), director - Neil BALLARD - has been/is being set up which will probably take over Passive Investments' assets (but presumably NOT their debts!).

Unfortunately, many, many people have handed over large sums, either to the company, Passive Investments, or Ballard Shaw as a partnership (the individuals), and the deeper you dig down the rabbit hole, the more shocking this entire episode becomes.  I have heard stories that would make an honest person's hair curl.  I even heard they appeared at a property exhibition recently, still hawking their wares.

 Here's a couple of paragraphs from an email I received today from a worried "investor":

 "I wish I had found your site twelve months ago when I was investing with Andy and Greg, but unfortunately I was completely taken in by Greg's smooth words at Gatwick and by Andy's 'impressive book.
 
I sent them the first £37,500 last November, courtesy of my Mortgage Express loan extension, and was waiting three months before sending them the other £30,000, as advised, but the credit crunch hit just then and when I went to Mortgage Express to ask for the other £30K they just said NO. As you know Mortgage Express has been taken over by the government.
 
I told Greg what had happened and thought he would understand and return my money, but he just gave me the usual line of 'never returning money under any circumstances'. He knows that I suffer from Multiple Sclerosis, that is the reason I went to him in the first place, but he just didn't care. He just gave me a sob-story about how my money was being used to support his suffering staff in these difficult times. In point of fact my money was paid straight into Andy and Greg's personal account, not into Passive's."

This is typical of the kind of stories I've been receiving since I posted about my own experience. 

Anyone who wants to join the group already in place regarding a complaint to the Serious Fraud Squad should contact me via my website at www.womeninpropertyinvestment.com.