JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The News4JAX I-TEAM has uncovered several eviction lawsuits connected to local well-known entrepreneur Janay White.
White is accused of fraud by dozens of her investors who said they paid her thousands of dollars for real estate and Airbnb investment opportunities.
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Court records show four apartments connected to one of White’s businesses are delinquent on rent payments.
Investors feel like these evictions confirm their worst fears that their money was not used for what they thought it was. They said they believe White was still sending profit and loss statements to investors even as she was failing to pay rent.
There are four different eviction lawsuits for apartments White had signed leases for, then turned around and offered to investors as “turnkey” Airbnb opportunities.
After paying an initial set-up fee of $7,000 to $13,000, investors said they were told they could sit back, relax, and collect profits while booking, cleaning and other procedural tasks were taken care of.
“Although it was booked 100%, right? We weren’t making any money off of it,” investor Buddy Wilson said.
Wilson invested in eight different Airbnb units for a total of $56,000 upfront. One of those is the subject of an eviction lawsuit for failure to pay rent.
“It’s a huge shock,” Wilson said. “There are definitely at least six other investors that have the same unit, 1316 Galleria. They have identical profit loss statements for every single month.”
Court documents show White and one of her companies, Luigi’s Concrete & More, were served a three-day notice on Sept. 6 demanding payment.
Wilson was sent a profit and loss statement on Sept. 8 showing he owed money even though the unit was at 100% occupancy for the month of August.
“I believe there was no business here. I believe that her intent from the original buy-in was to defraud us to make things look like and appear as she was doing her job,” he said.
White is accused of missing a total of over $9,000 in rent payments in September for rental units at Ocean Park in Jacksonville Beach and Alaqua and Galleria Club Apartments in Jacksonville.
Wilson said he and other investors were recently sent notices of cancellation of their short-term investment agreements by White and that’s the last they’ve heard from her.
“She ended the contract abruptly with them and gave them no reasoning,” Wilson said. “I think that her being evicted is part of her business being shown for what it really was, which wasn’t business at all, it was all fraud. I’m happy and excited that they are evicting her and that the truth is very much so coming to light.”
The eviction lawsuits are against the LLC Luigi’s Concrete & More, which Janay White owns. Investors said their contracts and payments were all through Luigi’s.
News4JAX has tried many times to contact White while reporting on her story over the past weeks. In a previous statement, she denied any wrongdoing.