Alta Community Investments Todd Kaufman Home Buyers Beware: "smoke and mirrors" construction Thousand Oaks California

Home Buyers Beware this Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Alta Community Investment

Alta's founder and owner, Todd Kaufman, is a multi-millionaire who, with his unidentified extremely wealthy investors, buys up aging properties to do house flips. His MO is to bring in cheap labor, unlicensed, unskilled, and undocumented workers off the streets of the nearest city. He gives them a very short timeline to build the house, using nicer quality products only where they will be visible. Out of sight lies the sloppy workmanship and cheap materials he is all about.

In my case, the original 1923 foundation was left and under-house beams and posts improperly and inadequately installed to support the structure above. A gap in the roof caused my crawlspace to flood, and when they brought in giant fans to dry the soil quickly, the soil first expanded and then contracted, sinking the entire house. All the vents around the bottom of the house were covered, further causing dampness in the crawlspace. The house was built without making sure the soil was level to begin with, and with the water damage, it has caused uneven floors that sag and creak, doors unable to close, and severe cracking of the walls inside and out. The front steps have cracked off and pulled away from the house, making it a liability for visitors to come to the door. The widespread damage that I have experienced that began within 1 week of buying this house will cost at least $100K. Todd Kaufman will not pay for anything to be repaired, and invites me to file a lawsuit. He has lawyers and millions of dollars that he would prefer to use than paying me or his other luckless home buyers a dime. His work is not to code and often gets no permits.

I have heard from these other homeowners who are experiencing the same sorts of problems and the unresponsiveness by Alta. Meanwhile, they continue to buy properties throughout CA and other states, either flipping them or renting them at usurious prices. Kaufman used to work for Washington Mutual, then Chase in home loan acquisitions. He has used his expertise and insider knowledge to swoop on properties, in collusion with banks, to be the first to hear of a property that might be foreclosed on and buy them cheaply. Then he swiftly evicts the homeowner. He is unafraid because he is protected by his vast amount of money, his lawyers and his bank friends. He is by the far the most wicked, souless monster I have ever had the misfortune of meeting. He just doesn't care, so he is very dangerous to the public. His wife, Jill, has a real estate company, and sells many of their properties, and once sold, never wants to hear the homeowner's complaints when their house begins to fall apart. She even pretends, in answer to postings on Yelp, that HIS business has no relationship to HER business. My realtor in Santa Barbara, Daniel Zia, is Kaufman's lap dog, denying problems exist while looking right at the large cracks spreading throughout the house. He won't bite the hand that feeds him, and pretends to be a good Christian who has moral superiority.

Alta Community Investment and Todd Kaufman and his wealthy investors are the epitome of Rip-Off Artists and Scammers. Do not ever trust them or buy a property from them. You will join the hundreds of people who have regretted the day they ever heard of those Teflon, unethical and self-serving frauds.