Fortress Real Developments Inc. Responds to Proposed Class Actions

TORONTO, Oct. 28, 2016 /CNW/ - Three proposed class actions have been filed against a number of individuals and companies, including Fortress Real Developments Inc. and its founders Jawad Rathore and Vince Petrozza.

There is no basis for these proposed class actions. The allegations made about the defendants and the syndicate mortgage loans are untrue, highly misleading and are clearly aimed at damaging the reputation of Fortress and Fortress projects in an attempt to benefit its competitors.

One of the applicants, David Martino, is in fact a CEO of a copycat company attempting to compete with Fortress and brokerages that offer loans to Fortress projects. Mr. Martino got his start and the idea for his copycat business as a mortgage broker at one of the brokerages he is now suing, and through which he personally recommended loans to hundreds of lenders. In doing so, Mr. Martino received commissions for brokering those loans. Now he is trying to damage the reputation of Fortress and Fortress projects through abusive litigation.

The same lawyers who represent Mr. Martino also represent individuals in the other two proposed class actions that name Fortress and others as defendants. The syndicated mortgage loans in these projects are in good standing and lenders have not suffered any losses. There is nothing to sue for.

The development projects that Fortress has worked on have been tremendously successful.  More than 14,000 individuals have participated in syndicated mortgage loans for over 75 projects, with payments to lenders totaling more than $91 million to date. The Fortress portfolio, has completed 15 projects with an additional 22 currently under construction and are estimated to create 24,229* jobs through their development cycle. Over 4,500 of the 12,000 residential units in the Fortress portfolio have been sold and are valued at over $2.1 billion.  It is unfortunate that the success of Fortress and its projects have made Fortress, its development partners, and the independent brokers and agents who offer syndicated mortgage loans targets of abusive and opportunistic claims, like these three proposed class actions.

Fortress will vigorously defend these proposed class actions, and is confident that they will be shown to be entirely without merit.

*Estimate based on labour forecasting tools developed in a study by Dundee University http://www.arcom.ac.uk/-docs/proceedings/ar2012-0317-0326_Forbes_El-Haram_Horner_Lilley.pdf

About Fortress Real Developments

Fortress Real Developments Inc. is a Canadian real estate development company that seeks out and analyzes real estate development opportunities in major Canadian markets. The company is focused on quality projects with recognizable alpha in residential low-rise, high-rise, commercial and industrial market segments. For more information visit: http://fortressrealdevelopments.com

SOURCE Fortress Real Developments

Natasha Alibhai, Fortress Real Developments Inc., [email protected], Phone: [phone] ext. 235