HomeVestors franchisee accused of running Ponzi scheme

A prominent Dallas-based home-flipping franchisee of HomeVestors of America — known for its “We Buy Ugly Houses” ads — is being accused of operating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors out of tens of millions of dollars.

According to lawsuits and ProPublica interviews with alleged victims, Charles “Chas” Carrier, the owner of C&C Residential Properties, reportedly formed relationships with more than 100 investors over nearly two decades.

But by 2024, many learned their investments had vanished.

“When this thing finally stopped, it was completely driven by me saying ‘enough’ and going to the people and saying, ‘Here’s the mess I’ve created,’” Carrier told ProPublica. “This is a mess created by me.”

Federal authorities, including the Department of Justice (DOJ), are now investigating, according to an April call between the lead prosecutor and potential victims.

The FBI and DOJ declined to comment for ProPublica’s report.

Carrier allegedly issued multiple loans against the same properties — some of which he never owned — and failed to record deeds that would have secured the loans.

Consequences for investors

As one investor who lost roughly $1 million told ProPublica: “It’s incalculable the amount of damage this guy did. He’s ruined some lives.”

The scheme particularly devastated retirees like Ronald Carver, a Texas resident who had invested $700,000 with Carrier, along with his elderly father.

“Worst case, I would end up with a property worth more than what the loan was,” Carver said regarding what he was promised.

Initially, the investments delivered — with interest checks arriving monthly and returns of 9%. That confidence led Carver to increase his investment and persuade his father to join.

But the payments reportedly stopped in the fall of 2024, and the money was gone. Just months later, Carver’s father died.

“My dad passed thinking he lost all of his money to this guy,” Carver said.

Fall from grace, HomeVestors response

Carrier reportedly launched his HomeVestors franchise in 2005.

According to ProPublica, he led company training and described his firm as the most successful in the HomeVestors system — a claim that remained on his website until May.

“Chas Carrier, for maybe 15 years, was one of the golden boys at HomeVestors,” former franchisee Ben Ahern told ProPublica. “Internally, it was like, ‘Do whatever Chas Carrier’s doing.’”

While HomeVestors claims its franchises are independently operated, ProPublica said the company earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees from Carrier’s business.

HomeVestors revoked Carrier’s franchise in October 2024, after receiving a tip on its newly created ethics hotline. It later sued him for trademark infringement.

“When confronted, Mr. Carrier admitted that he and his business had entered into debts that they could not pay,” a HomeVestors spokesperson told ProPublica. “It is truly disheartening for us that anyone who lent Mr. Carrier money was misled or harmed by his alleged fraudulent activity.”

Investors also blame investment adviser Robert Welborn, who reportedly referred many of his mostly older clients to Carrier.

Welborn said he built trust in Carrier after researching him and is now helping clients with restitution efforts. He settled one investor claim for $130,000, ProPublica said.

By 2023, Carrier is said to have turned to high-interest cash advances to stay afloat. Court records show he borrowed $1.2 million that year at annualized rates as high as 600%, eventually facing seven lawsuits from cash-advance companies.

Even after title insurers issued alerts about Carrier and the Texas Real Estate Commission fined him in 2016, HomeVestors did not revoke his franchise, according to ProPublica.