- Flip This House
infobox television
show_name = Flip This House
format = Reality
runtime = 42 minutes (without commercials) 60 minutes (with commercials)
country =United States
network = A&E
picture_format =480i (SDTV ),720p (HDTV ),1080i (HDTV )
first_aired =2005
last_aired = present
tv_com_id = 0476041
imdb_id = 0476041 |"Flip This House" is a television series which airs on the A&E (Arts and Entertainment) television network. Each episode spotlights the purchase and renovation of a single unit. All episodes included listing the price of the purchase, the cost of renovation, and the market value (including potential profit) of the "flipped" property.
eason One
In season one, the series followed the activities surrounding the Charleston-based [http://www.trademark-properties.com/] Trademark Properties, founded by
Richard C. Davis .;Charleston Team
*Richard C. Davis - Founder and head of the company.
*Ginger Alexander - Davis' right-hand associate who assists with the flipping of houses
*Dawn Nosal - Project coordinator
*Kevin Molony - Head of construction during the flipping process
*Vance Sudano - One of the real estate brokers who sells the finished housesDue to a contractual disagreement Trademark decided not to return back for season two of the show. Davis created the show in 2003, took it to A&E to partner, and has yet to receive one dollar. In July 2006, Trademark Properties filed a lawsuit against A&E alleging breach of contract and fraud.cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporteresq.com/thresq/litigation/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002879319&imw=Y|title=A&E Sued Over 'Flip This House'|date=
July 25 ,2006 |first=Andrew|last=Wallenstein|publisher=The Hollywood Reporter Esq|accessdate=2007-06-01] Davis signed a series deal with TLC, and the new series, originally titled "The Real Deal" and now named "The Real Estate Pros ", began airingApril 21 ,2007 .cite web|url=http://www.flipthislawsuit.com/2007/03/31/tlc-vs-ae/|title=Trademark Properties v. A&E Television Networks|date=2007-03-31 |accessdate=2007-06-01|publisher=Flip This Lawsuit|first=Mark|last=Lyon]eason Two
In season two, the show was recast with a team from San Antonio, and another from Atlanta.
;San Antonio Team
*Armando Montelongo - Montelongo House Buyers cite web | url = http://www.montelongohousebuyers.com/personal_info.html | title = About Us | work = Montelongo House Buyers | accessdate = 2007-06-02 ] co-founder, David's brother
*Veronica Montelongo - Armando's wife, the company's sales executive
*David Montelongo - Montelongo House Buyers co-founder, Armando's brother
*Melina Montelongo - David's wife, who handles marketing;Atlanta Team
*Sam Leccima - Founder of Leccima Real Estate [cite web | url = http://samleccima.com/main.htm | title = Sam Leccima.com | accessdate = 2007-06-02 ] [cite web | url = http://www.leccima.com/sam.swf | title = Leccima | accessdate = 2007-06-02 ] , accused of fraud in May 2007.cite news | url = http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,277158,00.html | title = 'Flip This House' Star Accused of Faking Work on Popular Cable Television Show | publisher =Associated Press | date =2007-06-01 | accessdate = 2007-06-02 ]
*Shanni Leccima - Sam's wife and partner
*Lamont Martin - Sam's right-hand man and construction manager
*Angela Wilford - Works for Keller-Williams Realty and collaborates with the Leccimas to sell the flipped houses.In May 2007, television station
WAGA in Atlanta exposed the Season Two episodes starring local developer Sam Leccima to be staged and fraudulent. This same report also revealed that Leccima has been the subject of numerous legal actions stemming from fraudulent real estate solicitations, some of which were related to his activity on the show. A&E has denied any knowledge of Leccima's activities and has stopped producing episodes. These episodes are no longer aired.eason Three
In season three, a new team from New Haven was introduced. Additionally, the team from Atlanta recast with a new group of people. Only the Montelongo team from San Antonio continued their roles from the prior season.
;New Haven Team
*Nathanial "Than" Merrill
*Paul Esajian
*JD Esajian
*Jeremy Black
*Lori Parks;Atlanta TeamNote: the Atlanta cast has changed since last season.
*Angela Wilford
*Harris Wilford
*Scott Tremmel
*Danielle Anderson
*Peter Pasternack
*Brian Trow ;San Antonio Team
*Armando Montelongo - Founder Armando Montelongo Companies
*Veronica Montelongo - Armando's wife, who sells houses also V.P. of Armando Montelongo Comp.
*Randy - Contractor who works on the houses
*Christopher Mendoza - Armando Montelongo Companies Intern(David and Melina have since walked away from the show and are no longer featured in the opening credits. David has begun Montelongo Developments, run out of the same office complex as Armando and Veronica. One episode stated that Veronica has since taken the place of David.)
eason Four
In season four, a new team from Los Angeles was introduced. Additionally, the team from Atlanta was recast again keeping only Brian and Peter from Season 3.
;New Haven Team
*Nathanial "Than" Merrill
*Paul Esajian
*JD Esajian
*Jeremy Black
*Lori Parks;Atlanta TeamNote: the Atlanta cast has changed since last season.
*
Peter Pasternack
*Brian Trow
*Candice Posey;San Antonio Team
*Armando Montelongo - Founder Armando Montelongo Companies
*Veronica Montelongo - Armando's wife, who sells houses also V.P. of Armando Montelongo Comp.
*Randy Burch - Contractor who works on the houses
*Brent Holt;Los Angeles Team
*Rudy Martinez
*Carlos Vazquez
*Mary O'GradyControversy
eason One
In 2007, "Flip This House" is the subject of a breach of contract and fraud lawsuit brought by
Trademark Properties , a South Carolina real estate company that starred in the show's first season.In the several million dollar civil lawsuit, Trademark and Mr. Davis, Flip This House's original executive producer and star, charged A&E and the show's Departure Films production company with breach of contract, fraud and seven other charges. In the lawsuit Mr. Davis claimed to have not received any financial compensation from A&E or Departure for Flip This House's first season and alleged that they had actually created the show themselves, but they called it "Worst To First" instead of the "Flip This House" show. He claims that he pitched the show to A&E, which later agreed to produce and televise 13 episodes of the series. Mr. Davis alleges that A&E agreed that although A&E would pay all the show's production costs, the parties would be 50/50 partners in any profits generated from the project and agreed to prepare a written agreement stating such. Instead, according to Mr. Davis, A&E aired the program, using his likeness without his permission, and changing the name of the show from 'Worst to First' to 'Flip This House' so as not to arouse suspicion that they were going to use the show concept and had no intention or ever paying Mr. Davis for the use of his show title and show concept.
According to Mr. Davis, the network allegedly never provided an agreement that reflected the terms of their alleged verbal agreement throughout the entire period of Flip This House's first-season production. According to Mr. Davis, "A&E defrauded and misappropriated and stole the project for A&E's own use and benefit, and merely changed the name so as not to have to pay for the show concept." Allegedly it wasn't until around March 2006 that Mr. Davis learned that A&E had decided to produce and air another season of 'Flip this House' without using his services (which he would not have agreed to anyway, since he was never paid for the first season).
A&E claims that they provided Mr. Davis with 'powerful' free advertising for his company 'Trademark.' Also A&E also alleged that it only moved forward with a second season after Davis announced that he was launching a new reality show with the TLC cable television network.
The case is still ongoing and
The Real Estate Pros , starring Mr. Davis and the rest of his staff at Trademark Properties was debuted as The Real Deal premiered on TLC cable television network onApril 21 ,2007 . As of June 2008, The Real Estate Pros has been cancelled by TLC and is no longer airing.eason Two
Sam Leccima is an Atlanta businessman who served as one of the show's second season stars. cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18985912/|title=A&E Bamboozled Again By Con Man Sam Leccima... The Hits Just Keep On Coming!!!!!!|date=
2007-07-01 |accessdate=2007-06-04|publisher=MSNBC|author=Associated Press] His 'Leccima Real Estate Company' was one of two real estate firms that the show's second season followed. Mr. Leccima may have convinced A&E that he was a whiz at renovating homes and flipping them for a profit. In 2007 there were reports of allegations that Leccima was a fraud who made fake renovations and never flipped anything except the stacks of money he allegedly scammed investors out of. The allegations center on theAtlanta, Georgia area.According to a two-part television news report broadcast by Atlanta's Fox affiliate
WAGA-TV in May 2007, Mr. Leccima didn't own the houses he claimed to have sold on Flip This House and also staged some of the renovations depicted on the show (ceiling panels were later seen falling, which was blamed on the inferior work of a sub-contractor in the TV series).WAGA also reported that Mr. Leccima didn't possess a real estate license when Flip This House was filming prior to last summer's second season premiere, claiming that Mr. Leccima "does not bear a good reputation for honesty, trustworthiness, integrity, and competence."
According to WAGA, he even staged at least one fake open house in which some of his friends posed as buyers for the home. In addition, he even claimed to sell another home that he didn't own.
A&E announced that it was pulling Leccima's Flip This House episodes off its broadcast schedule and denied any knowledge or part in the frauds shown on their airways.
From the A&E web site on
July 1 ,2007 [http://www.aetv.com/flipthishouse A&E's Claim To Not Know Anything About All Of The Fraud] : "We are dismayed to learn of these allegations. A&E Television Networks is not a party to any of the transactions shown in Flip This House and has not received any formal complaints about the properties or sales. Based on these allegations, A&E is taking all episodes featuring Mr. Leccima off the air pending further investigation of the claims. After the second season of Flip This House, A&E decided to change direction and focus on different cast members, as we did after the first season when another controversial situation happened, and we no longer work with Mr. Leccima or Trademark Properties."Mr. Leccima has suggested that A&E and Flip This House's production company knew what was going on.
"Ask anybody who works in television how a reality show is made and you'll find that ours was a very typical approach," Leccima told The AP.
eason Three
During 2007, many of the Montelongo properties that were in various stages of renovation and preparation for sale became listed for foreclosure due to mortgage non-payment. Despite claims by Armando Montelongo that these properties were "not mine" and belonged to his brother David, there is no evidence of this whatsoever and the properties were solely in Armando's name. More than 20 properties in Armando's name were foreclosed by VCH funding. [cite web|url=http://www.flipthislawsuit.com/2007/10/12/montelongo-foreclosure-and-court-activity/|title=Montelongo Foreclosure and Court Activity|date=
October 12 ,2007 |publisher=Flip This Lawsuit|accessdate=2008-02-23]On
February 21 2008 , Armando Montelongo was indicted by a Travis Countygrand jury on a "theft of service charge." It is alleged he failed to pay over $4,000 in fees to an appraisal service. If convicted, Montelongo faces 2 years in state prison. [cite news|url=http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/22/0222montelongo.html|publisher=Austin American Statesman|title='Flip This House' star indicted in Travis County|first=Steven|last=Kreytak|date=February 21 ,2008 |accessdate=2008-02-23 Dead link|date=June 2008] [cite news|url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA022208.fliphouse.EN.1a99226d.html|title='Flip This House' star indicted in Travis County|date=February 22 ,2008 |accessdate=2008-06-23|first=Creighton A.|last=Welch|publisher=San Antonio Express-News]As of June 2008 , Montelongo had managed to postpone the proceedings several times, but will not likely be able to do so much beyond June of 2008.In April 2008, a civil suit was filed in
Bexar County , TX by Mirko Desabota against Armando Montelongo for fraud in real estate transactions, breach of fiducuary duty, securities fraud, and associated damages stemming from a deal into which Desabota entered with Montelongo to remodel properties. In the complaint, Desabota describes a document which Montelongo wanted him to sign absolving Montelongo of all liability in the matter. Numerous parties involved with Montelongo who subsequently filed complaints against him (including Linda Gass, the appraiser who Montelongo is facing 2 years in state prison for not paying $4000) also describe being pressured to sign such "settlement agreements" by Montelongo.References
External links
* [http://www.aetv.com/flipthishouse/ Official website]
*imdb title|id=0476041|title=Flip This House
* [http://www.flipthislawsuit.com/ Trademark v A&E Lawsuit Information]
* [http://www.fortunebuilders.com/ Business website For the Flip This House New Haven Team : www.FortuneBuilders.com]
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