Soreide Law Group has filed a FINRA arbitration on behalf of our client (Claimant) against:
REALTA EQUITIES, INC. and their registered representative, THOMAS C SHULTZ (Respondents).
The Claimant is retired and living in Arizona. In 2018, the Claimant and her husband were invited to a retirement planning dinner by REALTA EQUITIES broker, THOMAS C SHULTZ. Being retired, the Claimant was looking to generate a safe and stable income to sustain her and her husband through retirement. The Claimant opened an account with REALTA EQUITIES broker SHULTZ in 2019 and invested $79,000 into GWG Holdings L bonds.
The lawsuit alleges the Respondents presented the GWG L Bonds to the Claimant as “asset backed” with little to no risk. Allegedly, THOMAS C SHULTZ also told the Claimant on multiple occasions that GWG was safe, secure and asset backed and did not mention the company was losing hundreds of millions of dollars in bad investments and GWG was reliant upon new investor funds to stay afloat.
In December of 2021, GWG Holdings failed to make their January 15th, 2022, interest payment of $10,350,000 and to make their $3,250,000 principal payment on their “L” bonds. The lawsuit alleges that the Respondents ignored this “red flag” and did not attempt to liquidate any of the Claimant’s GWG L bonds.
According to the lawsuit, in addition to GWG L Bonds, THOMAS C SHULTZ also allegedly recommended a purchase of $79,000.00 into MacKenzie Realty Capital Fund. The lawsuit alleges that SHULTZ claimed it would generate a safe 8% annual dividend. After the investment in 2019 into the non-tax deferred fund, the MacKenzie Fund almost immediately stopped paying dividends, then resumed at a fraction of the dividend rate, only to stop distributions completely in 2025. To date, the MacKenzie Realty Capital Fund has lost over 95% of its value. The lawsuit states that this small cap overleveraged REIT was unsuitable for the Claimant and her retirement goals.
The lawsuit alleges that Respondents, REALTA EQUITIES and their representative THOMAS C SHULTZ’s actions have caused damage to the Claimant of approximately $158,000.00, and is claiming Negligence, Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Negligent Supervision.
According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, available to the public on FINRA’s website, THOMAS C SHULTZ, has been in the securities industry for 12 years and has been listed with 6 firms. Shultz has 5 disclosures on his FINRA CRD report. All 5 disclosures are “Customer Disputes,” 3 have settled and 2 are pending. The significance of Shultz’s disclosures is underscored in FINRA NOTICE to MEMBERS 03-49. FINRA conducted a review of the CRD’s of all registered representatives, only .41% had been the subject of 3 or more customer complaints. In other words, THOMAS C SHULTZ’s customer complaints rank him in the top one-hundredth percent of all registered representatives for customer complaints.
One of the disputes filed against THOMAS C SHULTZ dated 5/23/2022 settled for $42,000.00. The allegations were, “CLAIMANT ALLEGES THE RR (Registered Representative) MADE UNSUITABLE RECOMMENDATIONS AND FAILED TO PERFORM ADEQUATE DUE DILIGENCE ON GWG.”
THOMAS CAINE SHULTZ (THOMAS SHULTZ, THOMAS C SHULTZ). Shultz is currently registered both as a broker and investment advisor with REALTA EQUITIES, INC of Phoenix, Arizona since 7/25/2023. He was previously registered with TITAN SECURITIES and COASTAL EQUITIES, both of Scottsdale, Arizona.
To discuss this article or any other securities issues, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer at no cost: 888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group works on a contingency fee basis, no fee if no recovery, and represents our clients nationwide before FINRA.
