Nearly $40 million. That is what more than 80 investors lost, according to prosecutors, to Charles Carrier, a 67-year-old former Dallas real estate company president who traded on the “We Buy Ugly Houses” name. On Wednesday, September 23, he was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison, roughly 15 years.
Court documents say that from at least 2018 to 2024 Carrier took money from investors by claiming it would buy and renovate residential properties. He assured them their loans were secured by liens. They were not, or not reliably. He never recorded the promised deeds of trust, issued several deeds of trust against the same properties, and hid the overlapping claims. Documents also say he sold properties without telling investors, forged lien releases to push those sales through, and spent investor money on personal expenses and on payments to earlier investors.
Carrier pleaded guilty to wire fraud in October 2025. Besides the prison term, he was ordered to pay nearly $25 million in restitution, which leaves a gap of roughly $15 million against the amount lost.
What prosecutors and the FBI said
U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould called financial fraud “a direct assault on hardworking Americans who trusted an alleged expert with their savings.” Carrier, he said, preyed on Main Street families, retirees and small business owners, and “earned every month of his 15-year sentence.”
R. Joseph Rothrock, the FBI’s Dallas Special Agent in Charge, said the sentence underscores the harm investment fraud does to victims and communities. He urged the public to research any investment carefully and to call the FBI right away if something looks suspicious.
The franchise question
HomeVestors, which runs the “We Buy Ugly Houses” brand, told FOX 4 it condemns the conduct behind the conviction. Carrier previously managed an independently owned and operated franchise, the company said, and it terminated that franchise in 2024 as soon as it learned of his misconduct. HomeVestors said it did not authorize, condone or contribute to his crimes.
