Woman faces $5000 bill for investment course even though she can’t get a loan

AFTER discovering Yza Canja built a $2M property portfolio in six months with no assets or savings, Elaine Paraha said to herself: “Why can’t I?

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 17: Kylee Van Der Torre, Yza Canja and Carly Crutchfield of CCORP, lay in bed during the Vinnies CEO Sleepout at Luna Park on June 17, 2010 in Sydney, Australia. Chief executives and business leaders across the country will tonight give up the comfort of their own beds and experience homelessness for one night to raise funds for St Vincent de Paul Society's homeless services. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

AFTER discovering Yza Canja built a $2 million property portfolio in six months with no assets or savings while earning just $25,000 a year, Elaine Paraha said to herself: “Why can’t I?”

So, having bought Ms Canja’s story, she decided to buy her $5000 investment course as well.

Ms Canja, of Property Rocket, sells her skills off the back of a personal tale that begins in a dirt-poor island in the Philippines.

At 21 she came to Australia and landed a temp job doing data entry at Aussie Home Loans. While punching in numbers, she realised some low earners were getting loans approved while some higher earners weren’t.

So she “immersed” herself in study and within six months had a property portfolio worth $2 million built without any of her own money. That was just as well as her annualised income was $25,000 at the time and she had no savings or assets.

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After Ms Paraha signed up she was referred to a mortgage broker. But the broker told Ms Paraha she couldn’t get a loan. Feeling misled, she asked the course provider to stop taking the $447-a-month course payments. She was told that wasn’t possible. She was up for the full $5364.

I attempted to contact Ms Canja but couldn’t. Initially the explanation was that it was her birthday. Later she just didn’t respond.

Her representative, “Suzanne”, who wouldn’t give her full name or position, said Ms Paraha hadn’t been told she couldn’t get a loan. She also said Ms Paraha had not ­attended a course bootcamp. Still, she said, if I could prove Ms Paraha had been knocked back on finance, a refund would be offered.

So I contacted the broker and obtained written confirmation. But still no refund was forthcoming.

Ms Paraha said Property Rocket then tried to cut a deal to pause payments provided there was no story. She ­rejected this.

Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) chairman Ben Kingsley said he believed some of Ms Canja’s strategies were not suitable for novices.

She advises people who do not have a deposit to contact a property developer and say “you are willing to work for your deposit by helping refer people to his project for ­investment,” including your friends and family.

She also recommends ­“optioning property” where “you pay a fee for the vendor to agree to sell the property to you within a set period of time and for a set price. If you cannot settle your purchase within that time, you will loose (sic) the fee you paid, but no more”.

There is no oversight of property investment. PIPA wants regulation, including disclosures about educator training levels, as well as fee and commission structures. But this is unlikely under the federal government, which is committed to reducing regulation, not adding to it.

Last night Ms Paraha sought assistance through Legal Aid, which advised she immediately file proceedings through the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal alleging misleading conduct, which is prohibited under the Australian Consumer Law.

Financial Rights Legal Centre principal solicitor Katherine Lane told Public Defender she too considered that Ms Paraha had been misled. “This is appalling,” Ms Lane said.

CO-DIRECTORS BUNKED DOWN BEFORE PARTNERSHIP SOURED

YZA Canja and Carly Crutchfield used to be in bed together — figuratively and literally.

Both were directors of property investment business CCorp. This picture of the pair with then CCorp employee Kylee Van Der Torre was taken during the 2010 CEO Sleepout. Ms Crutchfield was the top fundraiser for that event.

But Public Defender can now reveal the Australian Securities and Investments Commission last year disqualified Ms Crutchfield from managing corporations after multiple businesses of hers had to be liquidated. ASIC has not taken action against Ms Canja.

UPDATE:  EDITOR'S NOTE, AUGUST 2016

The Tribunal found that Yza Canja and Property Rocket were entitled to rely on the terms and conditions of the contract, and that their conduct was not misleading. 

The contract stipulated that Ms Paraha would be entitled to a refund (less a 10% fee) if she had applied all strategies in Property Rocket's course and had not made any money. As Ms Paraha had not yet completed all the strategies she was not entitled to a refund.

Read the full NCAT decision: http://media.news.com.au/multimedia/2016/08/NCAT.pdf