Please feel free to contact us directly at contact@caseinvestmentsgroup.com.  It may help us in responding if you are able to include the name of the investment opportunity in the subject line.

Case Investments Group is an online investment platform that brings together investors, borrowers, and sponsors.  Accredited or institutional investors can invest in pre-identified commercial real estate investment opportunities with as little as $5,000.  Legal document signatures and fund transfers can all be handled securely through the Case Investments Group platform, so that investors can complete the entire transaction through the website.

Case Investments Group offers accredited and institutional investors access to investment opportunities involving a variety of real estate property types, including multi-family residential, office, industrial, self-storage, retail, medical office and hospitality facilities.  Single-family residences being used for investment purposes (not owner-occupied) are also the subject of many investment opportunities.

Case Investments Group also offers different types of investment vehicles.  Investors can purchase securities related to secured real estate loans (both first- or second-lien positions); equity investments in commercial properties, usually involving in-place cash flow that provide an income component to the investment; and "preferred equity" investments involving a preferential position in the equity capital structure but limited potential upside.  If there is a specific property type you are interested in, let us know here.

Commercial real estate investing in other contexts often involves large investment amounts and limited regional opportunities. Case Investments Group, on the other hand, allows accredited and institutional investors to invest for as little as $1,000, all from the convenience of an investor's laptop or tablet computer.  This means that investors have the ability to participate in opportunities that historically may have been available only to large institutions.  You'll also be investing "passively" -- similar to stocks and bonds -- so that you don't need to directly be concerned with the management headaches associated with a property.

Case Investments Group does some initial review of potential investment opportunities and then, with the ones it moves forward with, presents the relevant investment information in an easy-to-use format so that investors can make their own decisions about which opportunities they want to pursue.  These opportunities involve a variety of property types, are across a number of regional geographies, and can relate to debt, equity, or "preferred equity" opportunities.  Once an investment has been made, investors are be able to monitor the progress of an investment via an investor "dashboard" -- again, all from the convenience of your living room.  These dashboards contain earnings history, management updates, and other follow-on information to be reviewed.

Case Investments Group allows you to choose and invest in a specific property or a group of pre-determined properties, whereas a REIT only allows investments into pools of capital that are often directed toward investments limited by asset class or geography. REITs can sometimes charge relatively high fees, and there are some tax advantages to direct participation structures such as those utilized by Case Investments Group.  REITs are often so large that they have difficulty participating in opportunities involving "small balance" projects under $50 million, which projects represent many of the opportunities listed by Case Investments Group.  Finally, because most REITs are publicly traded, the shares in those REITs can be subject to the same volatility as may be experienced by the stock market generally.  You should consult your tax or investment advisor for additional information.

We do not currently allow non-US investors to invest through Case Investments Group since there are some difficult tax and legal issues involved.  We continue to evaluate this position, however, so if you are a foreign resident interested in investing through Case Investments Group, please contact us so we can discuss your situation.

For equity investments, Case Investments Group sets up a separate limited liability company (LLC) for each investment opportunity, and that LLC will in turn hold an interest (sometimes indirectly) in the entity that actually owns the subject real estate.  When you invest in an equity opportunity through Case Investments Group, you own shares in that LLC.  Using this structure, you should have the benefit of limited liability while also enjoying the benefits of using a "pass-through" entity for tax purposes.

For debt and certain "preferred equity" investments, investors will invest in debt obligations of Case Investments Group subsidiaries -- "payment dependent notes" -- that are tied to the performance of real estate loans or investments made by that subsidiary. The notes are issued in tranches, or “series,” and each series of notes will be tied to the performance of a corresponding borrower loan or project investment.  In some cases, a relationship with a third-party trustee has been established so that the counterparty risk to investors in these situations is limited.

Yes, you can invest through an entity or trust.  We will likely need some additional information concerning an investing entity, such as the articles of organization or the governing trust documents.  Generally speaking, each owner of an entity, or each beneficiary of a trust, must themselves be an accredited investor, or else the entity must have total assets in excess of $5,000,000.  Please contact us if you'd like us to get started on qualifying your investment entity or trust.

Unfortunately, even self-directed IRAs still require custodian involvement and approval before an investment can be consummated. This process creates significant delay and involves manual processes that reduce the efficiency of the Case Investments Group platform.  We continue to evaluate our processes here, however, so if you are interested in investing through an IRA then please contact us and we'll see what we can do.

If you are able to link your self-directed IRA with a bank account and can transfer funds immediately, then we may be in a better position to accept the investment; let us know and we'll likely be able to accommodate this situation.

The frequency of any investor returns depends on the type of investment.  Typically, equity investments have distributions on a quarterly basis, while debt and preferred equity investments involve payouts on a monthly schedule.  An investor's share of any distributions is generally transferred directly into the same bank account that was initially used by the investor for the contribution of the original investment amount, and typically occurs within a few days of Case Investments Group receipt of such distributions.

On debt investments, the monthly payments of interest are dependent on Case Investments Group having received the correlating payments from the borrower on the corresponding borrower loan.  Preferred equity investments are designed to have "current" payments made on a monthly basis and then an "accrued" payout that is payable at the expiration of the investment period.  Normal equity investments are usually designed to have investors get quarterly distributions and also to participate in any net appreciation realized when the property is sold.  An investor's share of any of these distributions will be deposited directly into the bank account designated by such investor.

Payout schedules cannot be guaranteed, of course, nor can there be any guarantee as to return rates or the return of investor capital generally, regardless of the structure of any investment opportunity.

Yes. You can earn commissions for each customer referred to Case Investments Group from your website.

Participate in the rise of the real estate crowdfunding industry. Case Investments Group will pay you a commission each time an accredited investor you refer submits an approved application on our site. Earn a commission on every completed application sourced from your site. There are no referral limits. Case Investments Group will provide additional materials and best practices to help you drive more referrals.

If you are interested in becoming a Case Investments Group Affiliate, please contact marketing@caseinvestmentsgroup.com.

Case Investments Group first reviews investment opportunities to confirm that they meet some threshold criteria for listings on our online platform.  If opportunities seem interesting, then background and credit checks are run on the principle executives of the sponsoring (or borrowing) real estate company. Case Investments Group then reviews other sponsor-provided information -- such as pro forma financials, title and inspection reports, comparable sales data, and other pertinent information -- and assembles such data on the platform so that investors can review the information directly.

Once an investment is listed, the information will include not only the general information about the particular opportunity but also the legal documents that contain detailed "risk factors" and which investors should review carefully before making any investment.  Each investment has a target funding amount, although the ultimate aggregate investment made may be more or less than this amount depending on the success of the raise and the other capital commitments of the sponsoring real estate company.  Because these real estate projects can be complex (involving lender financing agreements, etc.), sometimes several weeks will pass before a project closing is scheduled.  In these cases, we typically will not debit funds from your bank account until the project is approaching the time of the expected closing.  If Case Investments Group falls significantly short of the expected raise or the transaction otherwise fails to be consummated, 100% of your investment commitment will be returned to you.

Investors should review closely the information provided on each investment opportunity that is of interest, including the "risk factors" described in the investor package of legal documents.  Your funds will be utilzed only for the investment that you have designated.

Case Investments Group does not, of course, guarantee the performance of any investment.  There is always the risk that returns may fail to meet projected amounts and even that investors may lose all of their invested capital.

Case Investments Group is perhaps unique among online real estate marketplaces in trying to keep minimum investment requirements as low as possible.  On most transactions we have a minimum investment amount of $5,000, although for select investments this figure may be as low as $1,000.  These minimum amounts may vary, however, as legal limitations affect the number of investors in any one opportunity and thus can also affect minimum investment amounts.

There is no maximum investment amount, and investors can (and from time to time do) invest the full amount being sought.  Persons investing more than 20% of the total amount raised by Case Investments Group may, however, need to confirm that they are not a "prohibited person" under anti-terrorist statutes and to make representations as to certain other legal requirements.

Case Investments Group will usually agree with a sponsoring real estate company as to an initial targeted raise amount, but the actual raise amount may be less or more than such targeted sum.  If the amount raised falls short of expectations, then it will be up to the sponsor as to whether it wants to accept the lesser amount and look to other investor sources to make up the shortfall.  If an investment opportunity is oversubscribed, then Case Investments Group will discuss with the sponsor whether Case Investments Group might receive a larger allocation to Case Investments Group investors, and if the sponsor accommodates such request then the overall raise amount will be greater than originally anticipated.

If the Case Investments Group raise falls so short of the targeted amount that the sponsor determines to reject the subscription from Case Investments Group investors, then 100% of any funds debited from investor accounts will be returned to those investors.  Generally, however, since we do not debit funds until a project nears a scheduled closing date, we will know in advance of any such debit whether the investment subscription is going to be accepted by the sponsor.

There is no cost for registering with Case Investments Group, and there is no cost for browsing through the marketplace and the various investment opportunities.

Once an equity or preferred equity investment has been made, Case Investments Group will usually charge investors an annual fee -- typically 1% of the aggregate invested amount -- paid periodically to cover ongoing investor reporting and communications relating to the investment.  In addition, the funds raised will typically include a slight "over-raise" amount to cover initial legal fees related to the particular investment vehicle and other immediate transaction-specific expenses.  Please review the applicable investor package and the operating agreement for the investment vehicle for details on such fees.

On debt investments, Case Investments Group typically takes a servicing fee in the form of a "spread" between the interest rate being paid by a borrower and that being paid to investors.  Certain fees and charges payable by a borrower in the event of default or other special circumstances will be shared among Case Investments Group and investors, as such situations involve increased servicing duties on the part of Case Investments Group.  Details as to such fees and sharing arrangements can be reviewed in the applicable private placement memorandum and/or series note listing for a particular offering.

There is always a risk that a particular real estate project will require more money than anticipated. Case Investments Group generally attempts to negotiate provisions in the sponsor's operating agreement so that the Case Investments Group investment vehicle will not be obliged to participate in any request for additional capital (a "capital call").  We also try to limit the amount of dilution, or interest rate payable, that may occur where some sponsor-level investors contribute additional funds and we do not.  Investors should review the applicable investor package for more information as to the potential consequences of not participating in a sponsor's capital call.

Case Investments Group investors in equity or preferred equity opportunities will generally receive periodic updates from the sponsor as to the progress of the business plan and new developments for the subject property.  These updates generally occur on a quarterly basis, although with certain investments they may occur as frequently as monthly.  Notifications of these updates are generally sent by email, and are also posted directly to the online "dashboard" of those investors who participated in the opportunity.

Debt investments do not generally involve any periodic updates.

Investors will also receive tax documents for each calendar year in which there was a distribution or other taxable income from a real estate investment made through Case Investments Group.  We try our best to get you all required tax documents for your investments prior to April 15th, and generally include contractual provisions with sponsoring real estate companies to help us get your tax information to you well in advance of that date.  Occasionally, however, a sponsor may itself be late in developing the related entity tax returns, and as a result there can be no assurance that investors will not need to file an extension request with the IRS.

Private real estate investments of the type listed with Case Investments Group are not traded on a public market and involve transferability restrictions.  As a result, your shares in these investments cannot be easily traded, sold, or otherwise converted into cash.  Each investment has a unique projected "hold period," which is the approximate period of time that investors can expect to hold the investment prior to any "exit" or maturity date.  These hold periods vary by investment, and can vary from less than 6 months to greater than 5 years; they are also estimates only, and actual hold periods may be longer or shorter than the periods initially projected.  Expected hold periods are generally described on the "Overview" tab of any particular investment opportunity.  Investors should review such expected hold periods carefully and consider whether such hold periods are suitable for them in view of their own investment objectives.

There are not, of course, any guarantees with respect to any of the investment opportunities listed on Case Investments Group, and there can be no assurance that actual return rates will meet those that were projected or even that investors will have all of their investment capital returned to them.  Investors should review closely the "Risk Factors" described in the investor package for any particular investment opportunity.

We go to great lengths to ensure the security of all of our members and our data and use Secure Sockets Layer (“SSL”). SSL is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser.  We use 128-bit encryption, which is the same level of encryption used by top national banks. We are also regularly audited by third party security firms to ensure compliance with the most rigorous security standards.

For added protection, we never store your banking information on our servers and we automatically log you out of your account after 15 minutes of inactivity.

Funds are either transferred via Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfers or, if you are investing through an IRA, by wire transfer.  Funds relating to investments in debt securities are deposited into an FDIC-insured (up to $250,000) bank account with Wells Fargo, N.A.; equity and preferred equity investments are deposited in a tri-party escrow account involving both our broker-dealer partner and a third party bank.  Funds are kept in this account until the amount of funding ultimately agreed upon is reached and the underlying real estate project (usually involving a property acquisition) is ready to close; sometimes this can be several weeks or more following the fund raise.  Funds are then released for the purpose of financing a loan or making an investment in a sponsor's company that owns or controls the subject property.

If the underlying project does not close or the raised funds are otherwise not accepted, 100% of your funds are returned directly to you.  Because it often takes 2-3 weeks after the fund raise is completed before the underlying project investment closes, your funds are typically not debited rom your bank account until the scheduled closing date nears.

Before listing an investment opportunity, we review certain aspects of the proposed transaction for its general suitability on our platform, and try to gain an understanding of the sponsor's track record and experience.  We also perform background and credit checks on the principals of the sponsoring real estate company. Where we're sufficiently interested, we review other transaction-specific data such as the sponsor's pro forma financial projections, the market area in which the subject property is located, the apparent quality of the property, and the proposed investment structure.

Ultimately, though, we are not responsible for "screening" transactions for investors; our role, rather, is to assemble the relevant information (usually obtained from the sponsor) for opportunities that we find suitable for the platform and to present that information in a way that helps investors understand, analyze and consider all the aspects of a proposed investment opportunity.  The goal is to put investors in a position to make a considered investment decision themselves.

Moreover we cannot guarantee any investment, and our listings generally involve illiquid securities (not easily transferred, and usually to be held for extended periods) that carry significant risk.   Ultimate investment decisions must necessarily lie with investors. Case Investments Group as an institution does not act as either an investment, tax, or legal advisor.  Investors should consult with their professional consultants and advisors with respect to any listed investment opportunity.

WealthForge, LLC is a registered broker-dealer  and a member of FINRA/SIPC.  WealthForge provides execution services with respect to equity and preferred equity investments, and provides compliance and regulatory oversight for Case Investments Group.

This is a waiting period sometimes recommended by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a way to establish a "pre-existing relationship" between an issuer, broker or dealer of securities and a new potential investor before any actual securities transaction takes place.

The SEC has also, however, given importance to when pro-active steps are taken to establish the relationship.  In either case, the intent is that investors become familiar with our platform and that we understand an investor's suitability for making any investments on the platform.

While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission generally requires the registration of securities issued by private companies, it also provides for certain exemptions to this registration process.  One exemption is Rule 506 under Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933, which exempts offerings made to "accredited investors." These persons or entities are defined in Rule 501(a) under Regulation D of the Securities Act as including natural persons with (1) a net worth or joint net worth with the person’s spouse exceeding $1 million, not including the value of the primary residence, and / or (2) an annual income of at least $200,000 in each of the two most recent years, or a joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years, along with a reasonable expectation of the same level of income in the current year.

Except for certain instances, this rule generally requires a securities offering to be a "private placement," and that offering can usually only even be made available to accredited investors.  For this reason, Case Investments Group is a private, password-protected platform for persons who first qualify as satisfying the "accredited investor" criteria.

Case Investments Group is not currently operating under either Title II (general solicitation offerings) or Title III (offerings to non-accredited investors) of the JOBS Act.  Rather, all investment offerings made available through Case Investments Group are conducted as private placements to accredited investors under Rule 506(b) of Regulation D under the Securities Act.  Potential investors must first qualify as accredited investors and satisfy certain additional criteria before they gain access to any listings on our platform.

Form 1099-INT is used to report interest income that is paid or credited to a taxpayer.  Interest income generally includes interest on bank deposits and other indebtedness (including bonds, debentures, notes, and certificates other than those of the U.S. Treasury).

Depending on the structure of your investment, you may receive a 1099-INT from us that will reflect interest income that has been credited to your account on certain debt investments.

Please feel free to contact us directly at contact@caseinvestmentsgroup.com.  It may help us in responding if you are able to include the name of the investment opportunity in the subject line.

We anticipate that your K-1 package will be available in your dashboard on our site on or around March 15th.  Once your K-1 package is available you will receive an email alerting you.

Please realize that because of the structure of our investments, we often are waiting for tax information from other parties.  This may result in unanticipated delays and, accordingly, we cannot guarantee that you willreceive your K-1 package before April 15th. Please be assured that every effort on our part will be made to ensure that we generate K-1s as timely as possible.

Form 1099-INTs will be issued by the end of February.

Your Form K-1 may show income that relates to (among other things): (1) interest income; (2) net rental real estate; or (3) gains from the sale of real estate.

Interest income is considered portfolio income and will typically be taxed at your marginal tax rate.  Net income from rental real estate is also taxed at your marginal tax rate, but is subject typically to passive activity rules.  Capital gains will be taxed at rates of 15% to 20% depending on your tax situation.

The taxation of different categories of income is an important issue to taxpayers.  Make sure that you discuss these classifications with your tax advisor.

The amount of loss and deduction you may claim on your tax return may be less than the amount reported on Schedule K-1. It is the partner's responsibility to consider and apply any applicable limitations.  Please discuss this issue with your tax advisor.

Your Form K-1 was prepared based upon information you have provided to us along with specific financial information relating to your investment.  Please communicate any changes as soon as possible so that timely updates to your tax documents can be made.

If you file your tax return prior to including your Form K-1, you should file an amendment to your return to include your K-1.  Should there be any additional tax due you may be faced with interest and penalties.  Any filing requirements and amendments should be discussed with a qualified tax professional.

Information relating to cash distributions can be found in the “Earnings” section of your Case Investments Group investor dashboard.  These cash payments typically represent partnership distributions under U.S. tax law and most state and local jurisdictions.  They sometimes are incorrectly referred to as "dividends."

As a general rule, these partnership distributions are not taxable to you because you are taxed on your allocated share of partnership income.  However, they may be taxable should you have distributions in excess of your basis in the partnership.  You should discuss this issue with your tax advisor.

While distributions from U.S. partnerships are typically not subject to U.S.withholding, certain types of U.S. source income which are allocable to non-residents are subject to U.S. withholding.  Please consult your tax advisor.

A Case Investments Group debt investment may generate either a 1099 or a K-1 depending on how the specific deal is structured.  However, in both situations the income that is received is classified as interest income for tax purposes.

No.  You should report on your tax return the net income items (or losses) as reflected on your K-1.  The cash that is distributed to you is generally not taxable unless you have a distribution in excess of basis (as previously defined).

As a general rule, if an entity has an equitable interest in real property in a specific state that state will subject the partners to taxation (assuming that state imposes income tax).  Accordingly, when you invest in a Case Investments Group equity investment opportunity that state will typically tax you and it does not matter what state you reside in.

If a state imposes a state income tax, withholding and filing requirements are typically done under the following scenarios:

1. No state withholdings are made by the partnership and the individual partners are required to file state tax returns and to pay income tax on their respective share of the partnership income.
2. The partnership withholds state income tax on behalf of the partner and remits it to the state.  This withholding is then reflected on Form K-1 and the partner is responsible for filing the required tax forms.
3. The partnership withholds, remits and files all information with the state and the individual partner is not required to file or pay anything.  This is called a composite or group filing.

State filing requirements are complex.  We strongly recommend that you discuss your state filing requirements with your tax professional.

Federal tax law does require that a Form K-1 be sent to every partner (or investor) who held a partnership interest during the applicable tax year.  If an investor has a partnership interest that is held in a retirement account (E.g. Traditional IRA, Roth, 401(k), etc.), the amounts reported on the Form K-1 are not reported on the investor’s personal tax return.

However, investments within a retirement account do require additional considerations and may have tax consequences.  Current tax law requires IRAs and certain other tax-exempt entities with more than $1,000 of gross qualified Unrelated Business Taxable Income (“UBTI”) to file a tax return using Form 990-T.  The account will typically only owe taxes if its UBTI is greater than $1,000. You should discuss this issue with your tax advisor to ensure that all required tax filings and tax payments are complete and accurate.

The Net Investment Income Tax is imposed by section 1411 of the Internal Revenue Code. The NIIT applies a rate of 3.8% to certain net investment income of individuals, trusts and estates that have income above certain thresholds.

As a general rule, investment income includes, but is not limited to: interest, dividends, capital gains, rental and royalty income, income from businesses involved in trading of financial instruments or commodities and businesses that are passive activities to the taxpayer.

Your share of income reported on your Form K-1 or 1099-INT and any gain resulting from the disposition of the property may be subject to NIIT.  You should consult your tax advisor to determine the impact of NIIT on your personal tax situation.

When you participate in a Case Investments Group deal, you become a member of a limited liability company (“LLC”) that is taxed as a partnership.  Partnerships are not subject to taxation as the income, deductions and/or credits merely flow through to the individual partners.  However, each partnership is required to file a tax return and list all partner information such as name, address and social security number.  So even if you do not expect immediate taxable income to flow through to you, you are required to furnish the information for IRS compliance.

Determining your basis in an investment can be complex and should be done with the help of a tax professional. The basis of an interest in a partnership is increased or decreased by certain items.

Increases.   A partner's basis is increased by the following items.

· The partner's additional contributions to the partnership, including an increased share of, or assumption of, partnership liabilities.

· The partner's distributive share of taxable and nontaxable partnership income.

· The partner's distributive share of the excess of the deductions for depletion over the basis of the depletable property, unless the property is oil or gas wells whose basis has been allocated to partners.

Decreases.   The partner's basis is decreased (but never below zero) by the following items.

· The money (including a decreased share of partnership liabilities or an assumption of the partner's individual liabilities by the partnership) and adjusted basis of property distributed to the partner by the partnership.

· The partner's distributive share of the partnership losses (including capital losses).

· The partner's distributive share of nondeductible partnership expenses that are not capital expenditures. This includes the partner's share of any section 179 expenses, even if the partner cannot deduct the entire amount on his or her individual income tax return.

· The partner's deduction for depletion for any partnership oil and gas wells, up to the proportionate share of the adjusted basis of the wells allocated to the partner.

It depends.  Please see the other FAQ on state taxation.

The net income (loss) reported on your K-1 represents taxable income that flows through to the investors.  It can include depreciation and other items.  However, investor distributions are often established up front based on the specific deal and may be paid out on a different timeline than any net income that is earned.

A flip project will generally be taxed as ordinary income that is subject to the investor’s marginal tax rate.  This is because a flip is classified as a “dealer” and is deemed to be in an active trade or business.

A long-term rental is defined as passive income and is subject to the passive activity rules.  These rules allow you to offset passive income against passive losses.  Any resulting net passive income will be taxed at ordinary income tax rates.  In addition, upon the sale or disposition of a rental property, capital gains (or losses) will be generated that will be classified at a preferable long term capital gains rates.

Any monthly payments received from a flip deal prior to the disposition of the property will be treated as a reduction of your basis in the investment and is generally not taxable (subject to basis limitations).  This is also often called a return of capital.

Each investor’s tax situation is unique, so you should discuss this question with your tax professional.

Depreciation is recorded on real estate that is held for rental purposes.  This depreciation is recorded on the LLC that holds title to the real estate.  Accordingly, this will result in lower net income that is passed through to Case Investments Group investors.

It depends.  Some states require a withholding on distributions or income that is passed through to investors.  Any state withholding will be reflected on your K1 at the end of the year.

Investing in real estate crowdfunding transactions can add complexity to your tax filings.  Filing your own tax returns in multiple states (if necessary) and reflecting the proper credits and state allocations can be challenging.

We recommend that you consider the services of a tax professional to not only assist you with your tax filings, but to advise you of the tax implications of the investments you make with us.