Charles Carrier Lawsuit: $40M Fraud, Guilty Plea, and HomeVestors Suits

The Charles Carrier lawsuit landscape now spans a federal criminal case, a trademark suit from HomeVestors of America, investor default judgments in Texas state court, and a string of cash-advance collection actions. Carrier, a former Dallas “We Buy Ugly Houses” franchisee, pleaded guilty in 2025 to one count of federal wire fraud after admitting he ran a Ponzi scheme that took roughly $40 million from about 80 investors. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and has agreed to pay restitution.¹

What Carrier Admitted Doing

Carrier opened C&C Residential Properties, a HomeVestors franchise, in Dallas in 2005. He solicited loans from private investors through promissory notes, promising a 9% annual return paid monthly and telling investors the loans were secured by real estate. In a worst case, he said, an investor would end up owning a property worth more than the loan.²

The reality was different. Beginning around 2018 and escalating by 2020, Carrier took out multiple loans against the same properties, sometimes recording as many as five notes against a single house and occasionally borrowing against homes he did not own.³ He frequently failed to record deeds, so investors who thought they held a secured interest often had no legal lien at all.⁴ He also admitted forging signatures and notary stamps to sell properties without paying off the underlying notes.⁵

Instead of buying and renovating houses with investor money, Carrier used it to pay personal credit card balances, business expenses, HomeVestors franchise fees, and interest owed to earlier investors.¹ By 2023 he was borrowing from cash-advance companies at annualized rates as high as 600% to keep payments flowing.² By late 2024 he reportedly needed more than $75,000 per week to service investor payments. When the monthly checks stopped, the scheme collapsed.⁶

The Federal Criminal Case

Prosecutors charged Carrier in the Northern District of Texas (Case No. 3:25-CR-239-X). The single wire fraud count named a $200,000 wire transfer, but Carrier’s plea agreement covered the full scheme against approximately 80 investors and roughly $40 million in losses.⁵ The wire fraud count carries a maximum of 20 years in federal prison and the possibility of millions in fines.¹

On November 18, 2025, U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr accepted the plea and released Carrier pending sentencing, finding he was not likely to flee or endanger the community.⁷ Carrier agreed to restitution, though the final amount has not been set. In February 2025 he signed an asset liquidation agreement letting federal prosecutors oversee the sale of his remaining properties, with proceeds going toward restitution.⁵ Sentencing had not yet taken place as of mid-2026.¹

Who Lost Money

Federal prosecutors identified 80 victims with total losses of at least $39,514,300. Individual losses ranged from $35,000 to $11.6 million.¹ Many were retirees who lived on the monthly interest checks.

Ronald Carver, a retired nuclear power plant worker with no pension, first lent Carrier $115,000 in 2017. By 2024, he and his father had roughly $700,000 invested. His father, Larry Carver, died in February 2025 believing all of it was gone. Tom Walls, 85, lost $50,000 of his retirement savings. John Moses estimated his losses at more than $1 million.⁴

The Civil Suits Against Carrier

Several investors sued Carrier in Texas state court rather than wait for restitution through the criminal case. Jeff Daly and Steve Needham, claiming combined losses of $13.5 million, filed suit (Case No. DC-24-20397) and obtained default judgments after Carrier did not respond. In at least one of these cases a judge deemed the fraud allegations true because Carrier failed to answer.⁴ Other investors have moved to foreclose on properties or are waiting on federal restitution.

HomeVestors of America filed its own suit against Carrier in May 2025 (Case No. 3:25-cv-01103, Northern District of Texas), alleging trademark infringement and failure to indemnify the company against investor lawsuits. Carrier did not defend, and Judge Sam A. Lindsay entered a default judgment for HomeVestors on March 27, 2026.⁸

Between May and October 2024, Carrier signed at least seven cash-advance agreements against future business receipts. All seven lenders sued for default; Carrier countersued four, arguing the interest rates were unreasonably high.⁴ In one of those cases, Kash Advance, LLC v. C&C Residential Properties (Case No. 7:24-cv-06351, Southern District of New York), the court struck Carrier’s answer, entered a default, and awarded Kash Advance $156,607.50 in January 2026.⁹

HomeVestors’ Role and the Suits Against the Franchisor

HomeVestors revoked Carrier’s franchise on October 24, 2024, after a tip through an ethics hotline the company had set up in 2023. Confronted, Carrier admitted debts he could not pay.³ The company then reported him to the FBI and cooperated with the investigation, including helping identify assets held by his companies.¹

HomeVestors denies responsibility for Carrier’s fraud, saying franchises are independently operated and that it does not dictate how franchisees raise capital.³ Investors have sued the company anyway, accusing it of failing to police a franchise that used the HomeVestors brand to build investor trust for nearly two decades.⁴ Former franchise owners have said HomeVestors’ internal audits were designed to verify franchise fees, not to review how franchisees financed their purchases.

The Investment Adviser Who Funneled Clients

Robert Welborn, an investment adviser based in Granbury, Texas, referred at least two dozen clients into Carrier’s promissory notes beginning in 2012, earning a 2% commission on each loan. He recruited through church connections, friendships, and dinner pitches, using sales materials featuring the HomeVestors mascot that described the investment as “protected.”⁴

SEC disclosure records show a customer dispute settled in early 2025 for $130,000 that alleged breach of fiduciary duty on a private offering; Welborn denied the allegations but said he settled “to avoid controversy.” A second dispute, filed in May 2025, alleges statutory and common law fraud and breach of fiduciary duty tied to the promissory notes and seeks $533,190 in damages. That claim remains pending. Welborn’s employer, Advisory Services Network, discharged him in May 2025 for policy violations including failure to disclose involvement in investment activities unrelated to the firm. He is no longer registered with any state or self-regulatory organization.¹⁰

What’s Still Open

Carrier’s federal sentencing is the next major event, and the amount of restitution he owes has not been set. Proceeds from the court-supervised sale of his properties will be applied against that figure once determined.⁵ Investor suits against HomeVestors and the pending FINRA claim against Welborn remain live tracks for recovery outside the criminal case.

1
Franchise Times. Former HomeVestors Franchisee Pleads Guilty to Bilking Investors
2
HousingWire. HomeVestors Franchisee Accused of Running Ponzi Scheme
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Shelterforce. Incalculable Damage: How a We Buy Ugly Houses Franchise Left a Trail of Financial Wreckage Across Texas
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ProPublica. HomeVestors Fraud Charles Carrier Texas
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ProPublica. Charles Carrier Plea Deal Fraud
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Deeds.com. We Buy Ugly Houses and Other Ponzi Schemes
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GovInfo. United States v. Carrier, 3:25-CR-239-X
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PACER Monitor. HomeVestors of America Inc v. Carrier et al
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PACER Monitor. Kash Advance LLC v. C&C Residential Properties Inc et al
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SEC. Robert Byron Welborn – Individual Summary