Federa Home 4+

Beware! Scam!

Beware! This place is a scam! I deposited 5K to bid on a property and when I didn’t win I initiated to transfer out the money back to my bank account but with no luck. They say it takes 30 days to show in your bank which is a lie. My bank said no transfer has been initiated and for example even the IRS was able to transfer money to my account in 3 days but this scam supposedly needs 30 days. Well read other reviews, they say they didn’t get the money after more than a month. I will be disputing the transaction with my bank. On top of it all of their auctions are a scam too, people bided pretty high amounts for an occupied problematic property with liens but even the top bidder didn’t win - they say “reserve not met”. And his bid was close to the market price for this property if it was to sell with no issues at all. And on all of their past auctions it says reserve not met. Now the interesting part - this reserve is a secret amount that no one knows therefore you can bid as much as you want and they will tell you at the end reserve not met even though you won the bid. This makes no sense because if these were real auctions and there was a reserve that needs to be met it would have been listed as a starting bid price - otherwise what’s the point of 132 bids that doesn’t matter because they are not reaching this reserve??? Total scam - it’s made just to tempt you to bid and to take your deposit but no real auction is happening.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. We're very sorry to hear about the trouble you're experiencing. Unfortunately, we've been unable to locate your information in our system, which could be due to a variety of reasons.

To help us better assist you, could you please reach out to our support team directly at support@federa.com?

We would like to clarify some aspects of our auction process as well. We've closed on multiple auction properties, and it's important to note that we don't set the reserve price—the seller does. Our auction listings are delivered with clear title and don't have liens, as stated in our policies. It's common in auctions that the reserve price isn't disclosed until the auction ends. If you are the top bidder and your bid meets the reserve price, the property goes under contract. If the reserve price is not met, the auction ends with a notice that the reserve was not met. We have no control over what people bid or what the seller selects as their reserve price.

Scam- do yourself a favor don’t download this app

I wanted to give a negative star if I can....On October 3, 2023, I deposited $5000 to Federa, Inc to be able to enter an online auction but I did not win. Federa Inc was holding the deposit since and during this time, it never initiated any notification in any format to inform me that I need to request the refund through their APP manually.
Upon realizing I never got the refund back, I requested the refund on June 8, 2024 through their APP but I have not received anything yet. There have been multiple emails from Federa, Inc confirmed they are working on the refund and they used different excuses to keep delaying the refund. One of the reasons they use is to prevent money laundering. WTH who is the one really money laundrying here or use customer's deposit to earn "free interest" ??? Also just to be aware they ask your SSN when you requesting the fund for no reason. I am disputing the charge with my bank now and will report this to FBI.

Developer Response ,

Hi Casey,
We apologize for the inconvenience you've experienced with the refund process. We recognize the frustration caused by the delay, and we're glad to inform you that your deposit has been refunded. We're working to improve our systems every day and ensure a smoother experience for all our users.
Best regards,
Federa Support Team

Definitely shady.

I called Federa directly and spoke to Emma, regarding a home for sale in my neighborhood. I am a real estate professional and the home being listed via the MLS but also being auctioned off on the “courthouse steps” made me skeptical. So when I called Federa, I asked how I could also list homes for sale. They sent me two bogus listing agreements, that did not list the actual owners names. I sent the listing agreements to my compliance department and they were rejected as tax rolls and listing agreements did not match. It appears Federa tries to trick listing agents into listing auction properties on their behalf, so that they can collect escrow deposits. Properties that they have no right to list. I have not been able to find anything online that contradicts what I am saying in this review. Definitely avoid as a real estate professional.