The New Jersey home of a former “Fox & Friends” co-host, who has been accused of defrauding dozens of real estate investors, is on the market for $1.45 million, according to its Zillow listing.
Clayton Morris and his wife and business partner, Natali, bought the Florham Park home in 2016 for $1.4 million, according to property records.
Clayton Morris, who left the popular Fox show in 2017, has been the subject of two investigations by media outlets this week. They say he sold Indiana rental properties with the promise to rehab and rent them. Yet investors who have filed lawsuits against Morris and his company, Morris Invest, allege many of the properties were never rehabbed or rented, and they received little return on the investments, if any at all.
The Indianapolis Star and The New York Times reported on the alleged fraud.
Since leaving Fox, Morris has boasted about his real estate investment prowess, hosting a podcast on the topic and detailing how to earn quick cash in real estate. Through his website and podcast, Morris persuaded people from around the country “to invest and his company directed them to the properties in Indianapolis,” according to the IndyStar report.
However, the high-quality rehabilitations that Morris highlighted online are allegedly not what investors experienced when sending him tens of thousands of dollars to invest. In one instance, according to the IndyStar, a man paid $52,500 to invest in a property that he later learned had burned down four days prior to his investment.
A Maryland man, who the IndyStar described as a former “Fox News junkie,” purchased two properties that Morris allegedly promised to rehab. But when the man flew to Indianapolis to check on his investment, he found tenants living in the triplex without working electricity or running water.
Morris is the target of at least five lawsuits filed by out-of-state investors, and there are eight open complaints against him with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, according to the IndyStar. NJ Advance Media filed a public records request to have those complaints released earlier this week. The request has not been returned.
The IndyStar’s investigation found that “Morris has been involved in the sales of hundreds of homes to investors influenced by his celebrity and personable online sales pitches.” According to the New York Times, Morris Invest helped sell at least 1,000 properties over the past two years and took in more than $5 million in referral fees and profits.
Morris denied the IndyStar investigation through his attorney, putting the blame on his business partner, Bert Whalen, a longtime Indianapolis real estate investor, who operates Oceanpointe, a company involved in the alleged fraud.
“Clayton Morris and Morris Invest identify with the many investors who lost money through home-renovation, property-management, and other failures by Oceanpointe and its various corporate entities and employees," David Hensel, Morris attorney, said in the emailed statement to the IndyStar. "Clayton Morris and his family purchased properties and were similarly damaged by Oceanpointe’s misconduct. The Morris family and Morris Invest have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Clayton and Morris Invest deny all allegations of wrongdoing.”
A Fox News spokeswoman said Wednesday the cable news network had “absolutely no knowledge” of the fraud accusations against Morris.
The 6,500-square-foot Garden State home that Morris owns has six bedrooms, six-and-a-half bathrooms and “many upgrades and high-end finishes,” according to the listing.
The Colonial-style home was built in 2016.
Inside, the home has “beautiful moldings throughout,” a gourmet kitchen, and front and rear staircases that lead to a full basem*nt that is “finished with care” and features an English pub-style wet bar, according to the listing.
The home also has a three-car garage.
The home was last assessed for nearly $1.3 million, and property taxes were $18,340 in 2018, according to Zillow.
The Morrises first put the home on the market in November 2018 for $1.5 million. In a little more than a month, they removed the listing before putting it back on the market in January. Two weeks ago, they slashed the listing price by $49,000 to its current price tag of $1.45 million, according to Zillow.
While Morris declined to speak with IndyStar directly, he did speak with the New York Times, reiterating that Whalen and Oceanpointe had deceived him.
“We were a victim, too,” Morris told the Times.
Morris’ Instagram page, where he has nearly 30,000 followers, is littered with advertisem*nts for his company, detailing real estate tips like, “Can you prepare your properties for winter temperatures?” and “How to find private money for real estate investing.”
Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Follow on Twitter @monavage. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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