Some Investors Are Paying The Price for Conservation Easements As Regulation D Private Placements
Experienced Private Placement Investor Loss Lawyers Can Help
If you are an investor whose brokerage firm recommended that you invest in conservation easements as Regulation D private placements, and you’ve since been informed that you are in violation of tax laws, you will want to speak with skilled Private Placement Investor Loss Lawyer right away.
Often marketed by financial advisors to high-net-worth individual investors, conservation easements as Regulation D private placements are usually touted as potentially offering a windfall to an investor’s tax bill. Unfortunately, there is growing concern that many of the hundreds of millions of dollars in conservation easements sold by broker-dealers in the United States may have been presented in structures that were improper and even illegitimate. If this is the case, then the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may come after you.
Please contact Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (investorlawyers.com). Our knowledgeable private placement investment loss attorneys represent high-net-worth individuals in pursuing damages from the brokerage firms that unsuitably recommended these investments to them.
What Are Conservation Easements as Regulation D Private Placements?
A conservation easement is an agreement limiting how land will be used so as to protect its conservation value. This typically includes prohibiting the industrial and commercial development of the land. A syndicated conservation easement is an investment vehicle where pre-packaged easements are typically represented to investors as offering a charitable deduction over the amount they invested. Investors who buy conservation easements packaged as regulator D private placements are supposed to get a federal income tax deduction in return.
Unfortunately, some of syndicated conservation easements are, in fact, abusive tax shelters. They may even violate federal tax laws and regulations.
In 2019, the IRS announced that it would increase scrutiny of syndicated conservation easements. Allegedly, the higher the tax deduction promised the greater the chance that the conservation easement structure might be illegitimate.
You should know that if your Regulation D Private Placement conservation easement is found to indeed have violated tax laws, as the investor you may be required to pay back any tax savings you incurred back in addition to interest and penalties.
Brokerage Firm Negligence: When Your Financial Advisor Unsuitably Recommends Conservation Easements as Regulation D Private Placements
Broker-dealers are required to conduct proper diligence on these supposed tax shelters and this includes making sure that they are legitimate. If you have found that your conservation easement investment is, in fact, in violation of tax laws, then you may be able to hold your brokerage firm for being in breach of its fiduciary duty to you and making this unsuitable investment recommendation.
Considering that conservation easements are structured as Regulation D Private Placements, your broker-dealer likely earned high commissions and fees from the transactions. This purportedly could have been the motivation for them to disregard red flags that they wouldn’t have otherwise. Examples of some of the many syndicated conservation easement investments that our skilled private placement fraud attorneys have been investigating:
- 830 Ocone
- 15th Street Partners
- Adam Smith Ventures
- Aldgate Real Estate Partners
- Arcadian Quay Holdings
- Aquatic Creek Group
- Basin Mountain LLC
- Bates Investments
- Beaverdam Creek Investors
- Belvoir Investors
- Big Hill Partners
- Clinton Investments
- Crestlawn Investors
- Harmon INV
- Hornet’s Nest
- Marchette Investments
- Monterey Cove Holdings
- Orange Wood Partners
- Paoli Investors
- Rock Spring Investors
- Spade Rock Partners
- Tick Creek Holdings
- Vineyard Ridge Investors
- White Path Investors
- Zorn Island Investments
What Are Regulation D Private Placements?
Regulation D private placement investments are typically exempt from registration with the SEC, which makes them unregistered securities. They also are usually illiquid and lack transparency. These types of alternative investments tend to be riskier than traditional investments and should only be sold to accredited investors and those who meet certain criteria or exemptions. They are unsuitable for most retail investors, conservative retirees, and inexperienced investors.
What Should You Do If You Are Wondering Whether Your Syndicate Conservation Easement Investment May Be a Tax Shelter Scam?
Contact our savvy Private Placement Investor Loss Lawyer teams at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas at (800) 259-9010 today.