Local family blasts Kansas City’s self-proclaimed ‘largest wholesale dealer of homes’
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KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) — A local family says Marcus Bray took their money and crushed their dreams of home ownership.
They’ve filed a complaint with the Kansas Attorney General and hired an attorney to go after the owner of Pride Properties.
“For someone to come and take advantage of me and my family, it’s very sad. We worked really hard to lose everything,” Maria Valdavinos said.
The day we met Maria Valdavinos, her living room was piled with her possessions. She was waiting to be evicted and cried about how she didn’t know how to explain what was happening to her young kids.
“Contract for deed”
The Valdavinos family had a contract for deed with Bray.
That’s where a family makes payments directly to a person and then they eventually own the home.
Court documents show Bray had a mortgage with an outside lender. He fell behind on payments at the end of 2019 and eventually went into default.
The Valdavinos knew there was a mortgage on the property but they did not know he stopped making payments.
They eventually learned about the mess when it appeared to be too late to do anything. They had already invested time, money and work into the property.
The home needed foundation repairs, work on the roof and a bathroom remodel. The Valdavinos also painted walls and laid new carpeted in many rooms.
“She was only one year away from having this place paid off! For her family, this is devastating,” said attorney Ted Anderson.
Pride Properties and Marcus Bray
Bray never spoke directly with KCTV5 news. We attempted to meet him in person but the address on his website with “Suite 342” takes a person to the UPS store.
Pride Properties registered business address with “Suite A” is a rental home.
Bray kept emailing KCTV5 that he had a new deal to save the Valdavinos’ home. So, we held off for more than a month on doing any report.
That never happened. The family’s attorney says he plans to file a lawsuit for fraud and breach of contract.
The complaint filed with the Kansas Attorney General says Marcus Bray was recently trying to sell Maria’s house as a “turn-key rental.” But of course, he had already sold the home to Maria four years ago.
Bray’s website is offering new sales while the deal with Maria’s house is falling apart.
He’s currently offering four different wholesale properties in heavy need of repairs.
Pride Properties offers vacation rentals in the Dominican Republic, Miami, Florida and Aruba.
He also offers to teach his business model the first Tuesday of every month. For thousands of dollars he’ll teach you online and become your mentor.
If you have any information on Pride Properties, please contact our investigative department at investigate@kctv5.com.
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