ComplaintsforYorkton Group International Ltd

• Initial Complaint

  10/04/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I rented an apartment from July 15th 2022, I moved out in December 2022 and they sent me a check that had the incorrect name on it all the information had incorrect name except for the address and name on the envelope. I've called them I've emailed them explain the situation they said send it back I sent it back they sent it back to me and all they did was scratch out the name on the cheque and initial it, I talked to my bank to ask them if this is possible to cash they said no they called the cops, because it was check fraud and check tampering, and Yorkton group has not returned any calls or emails I've sent them pictures of it I've sent them a letter from the bank, they have ghosted me, I feel the company should be shut down and penalized. My mother is retired ***** helped me live in Edmonton for the time I was out there and to get back she also could use that money to put back on her credit line where she got it from, I'm unemployed and I could use the money in the cheque it's almost $800. I can send scanned images of the letter the information they gave me and the cheque

  Business response

  19/04/2023

  The problem was brought to my attention through *** on April 10, 2023, I immediately conducted thorough investigation on the situation.

  According to the lease document, the name of the tenant was mis-typed as “******** ********”, attached hereto a copy of the lease document for reference. Without knowing the tenant’s name was mis-typed, our Property Accountant had issued the deposit refund cheque using this wrong name and mailed to the tenant in early January 2023 shortly after the tenant’s departure on December 31, 2022. Sometime in January/February 2023, our Property Accountant had brought the cheque to me with the tenant’s name corrected and asked me to initial the change. We had then mailed the corrected cheque back to the tenant without knowing this would present any problem with the tenant’s bank. According to the attached envelop provided by the tenant with post stamp March 3, 2023, we believe the tenant had received the corrected cheque in early March. Unfortunately, our Property Accountant that dealt with this refund cheque had left our company in mid-March, our Accounting Office including our new Property Accountant was not informed of the tenant’s problem with his bank until we received the *** complaint on April 10, 2023.
  We had immediately contacted the tenant trying to understand about the problem. After our investigation, we had put a stop payment on the cheque and had already e-transferred the deposit refund to ******** ********, I also attached hereto the e-transfer record for confirmation.

  This appeared to be a communication issue due to our staff turnover at that time, we apologize for the inconvenience that has caused to the tenant.

  Customer response

  19/04/2023

   

  They notified me yesterday evening approximately 6:00 p.m. my local time about it and they've finalized everything thank you for your help

• Initial Complaint

  12/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In 2008 I invested in Yorktons Northstar Estates 2 land project. At the time the sales people had put a 3-8yr time frame on the project completion, depending on if the land was to be serviced or not. I had paid $83,900 for a 1/52 acre share of the project. Sales people valued exit valve between 350K-800K, depending on if land was serviced or not. Now, it is 2023, 15yrs later with essentially zero return on investment other than a cheque or 2 for a very small amount of rental earnings. It appears that Yorkton's sales people have grossly mislead investors here. Something is seriously wrong when land purchased in 2008 cannot be sold for a profit 15yrs later when farmland for example has gone up almost 10X in this timeframe. There have been no updates on the project that I have recieved in the past year now, and before that every updates is essentially the same with more excuses as to why Yorkton cannot exit the project yet for a profit. Very mismanaged company, and the misleading of investors is criminal. In addition to this, foolishly I invested in the ******* Condo project in 2013 with a return estimated at 20-30% in a 3 yr timeframe. That was 10 yrs ago. Part of the initial investment was returned, but still have not even got my money back on this one (let alone carrying charges). More misleading information from Yorkton Group and lack of project completion. I aniticipate law suits will start to develop over misleading sales tactics and bogus projections made to investors.

  Business response

  22/03/2023

  Mr. ***** ***** has purchased undivided land units in our Northstar Estates II project located inside the Edmonton Energy & Technology Park (EETP), within Edmonton City limits. EETP was built by the City of Edmonton as the world’s second largest petro-industrial park which was a high profile, high priority project of the previous City Council, under the leadership of ***** ******* ******, with the vision to diversify Edmonton’s tax base. Unfortunately, the next City Council elected in 2013 did not appear to share the same vision for the EETP and as such there was little accomplished to advance the EETP since 2013. Currently we as well as other land owners in the area are diligently in the process of engaging with the current ***** **** and the City Councils, as well as the City administration, to advance the interests of the EETP.
  
  Most recently we together with another land owner group of the area have hired a consultant to complete a feasibility study and strategy for a food processing hub which we plan to present to City council in due course. This will be presented as part of a larger strategy along with other landowners in the area.
  
  Good communication with our clients is very important to us. As Mr. ***** rightly pointed out, we have been sending out newsletters regularly to keep our clients informed, including in December 2022. Please ensure that Mr. *****’s e-mail is kept up to date with us so that he will not miss our newsletters which are sent out automatically to all of our clients through our CRM system. Also note that all of our newsletters are published on our website upon release, we are also available to communicate by phone 7 days per week and this is noted on every newsletter.
  
  As clearly stated on our land purchase contract only written representations therein are considered valid, we were not in a position to predict the future of the real estate investment or to provide guaranty of return and/or project time line.  As Mr. *****’s land interest is registered on title with the Alberta Land Title Office, he does have the legal right to sell his land interest to any buyer at any time should he desire to exit the project instead of holding the investment until favourable market conditions.
  
  Over the course of time, our team has consulted with the City to bring the subject land parcel towards its highest and best use and will continue to do so. There are further steps that the City may consider lowering the threshold for development such as offering tax incentives for companies setting up in the EETP; these and other policy issues will need to be addressed by the current City Councils and the City administration in order for the EETP to attract industry.
  
  Note that the market determines the price of land; we are not aware of any agricultural land in the Edmonton area that has gone up in value 10 times (1000%) over 15 years as you have stated, particularly in the EETP area, we appreciate if Mr. ***** can share the source of this information with us. The economy in Alberta has been a significant challenge to our exit strategy with multiple recessions back-to-back in recent years, significantly different from the stronger economy at the time of Mr. *****’s land purchase in 2013.
  
  Note that Mr. *****’s ownership in the subject parcel is secured by Alberta Land Titles registration, and the land is clear title with no financial encumbrances.
  
  The ******* project has also been negatively impacted by the recent Alberta economy downturn as well. We have five condo units remaining to be sold out of the 38 condo units that were available for sale. In addition to our own sales efforts the remaining condo units have been listed with many prominent realtors in Edmonton. The Edmonton luxury condo market has changed drastically since the project’s inception. As Mr. ***** rightly pointed out we have paid back about 80% of the investor’s investment principal to date. The remaining amount will be disbursed upon project wrap up in due course with the sale of the remaining 5 condo units.
  
  We like to exit all of our projects as quickly as possible; two of our recent projects in Surrey B.C. were both exited within 1 to 3 years with a substantial ROI for our investors. Since we are the largest single co-owner and shareholder in the ********* ******* ** project and the ******* project respectively that Mr. ***** invested in, it is in our best interest to exit both projects at the earliest opportunity when market conditions permit a profitable exit.
  
  More information about the EETP can be found on the City of Edmonton website **********************

   

• Initial Complaint

  27/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  • I invested $20,000 in the Yorkton 108 project under my corporation. Yorkton cashed my cheque Jan 25, 2019 and I was paid back my original investment on Nov 24, 2021 • They offered to pay 5% interest to the investors. The full 5% interest payment needs to be paid by Yorkton, and not by the investors. When the interest payments were added to the project to sweeten the deal, never was it disclosed that the interest would come out of the project profits. They made it sound like an extra perk that Yorkton would pay for. As it was actually done, it made no difference at all in my payout. I should receive an extra $2835.62 so Yorkton paid the interest, not the investors. Otherwise, the interest payments were pointless. • The sales presentations said that the Development Management Fee and Project Consulting Fee would cover many of the things Yorkton billed extra for; most of the Development costs should be covered by Yorkton, out of the $3M and the 5% development fees they took from the project • I want a complete accounting of all the fees; these came out of my pocket and I have a right to know where our money went • Anything that Yorkton paid to itself, its subsidiaries or *** ***’s companies should be covered by the $3M and 5% fees; the exact amount owed to me would be calculated based on the expenses, once disclosed • If Yorkton doesn’t want to calculate a proper profit for the investors, then I should receive the promised 20% return per year i.e. $11,342.47, plus the interest $2835. Yorkton promised the project was to be done in 12-18 months at the sales presentations, instead it was done in 3 years; • I am owed $572.61 to correct the interest payment Yorkton had miscalculated. They cashed my cheque Jan 25, 2019 and I was paid back my original investment on Nov 24, 2021, which is 1035 days, which means, even with simple 5% interest that they promised, they owe me $2835.62, but paid $2263.01. As mentioned above, I am actually asking for the full $2835.62

  Business response

  07/09/2022

  This client invested in the Yorkton 108 Limited Partnership (LP) by way of an Offering Memorandum (OM) prepared by a security lawyer in accordance with applicable securities regulations. Further, this project provided high level of transparency as it was audited by *** ****** *** (***), an independent public accounting firm.
  
  A copy of the OM, which stipulated the terms and conditions of the offering as well as the risk factors, was provided to all subscribers with sufficient time for examination prior to their subscription to the LP. The clients also acknowledged the receipt of the OM in the executed subscription agreement. The sales presentations highlighted the key points stipulated in the project OM.
  
  Pursuant to the OM, 5% p.a. interest was earned from the project profit as clients subscribed to the LP until the offering was closed such that those investors that came earlier received a higher return than those who came later, which accounted for the time value of money within the scope of this project.
  
  As stipulated in the OM, the return on investment and the project timelines are on a best effort basis and not guaranteed. The risk factors which can impact the return on investment and project timelines were also disclosed in the project OM.
  
  Upon the sale of the project, the ******* ******* and the ******* ******* immediately disbursed most of the funds received from the sale proceeds, with the balance of the net profit being disbursed after a full audit and sign-off by *** who prepared and reported the detailed accounting of the project pursuant to the OM to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and to all individual subscribers.
  
  In summary, this project is governed by its OM and the stipulated terms and conditions contained therein, and in accordance with both applicable securities regulations and public accounting standards. The ******* ******* in its capacity acted in the best interest of the limited partners discharging its fiduciary duties by exiting the project profitably at a time period with high inflation pressures in the construction industry, as well as significant economic uncertainty triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
  
  This client invested $20,000 and received a payout of $23,460 which represents a total profit of $3,460, or 17.3% return on investment. We appreciate the client to seek professional advice, we are more than happy to answer any further questions raised.
  

  Customer response

  19/09/2022

  
  ********** ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The Yorkton response completely ignored my complaint and did not respond to any of my requests for information, nor my concerns.

  1. I wanted a breakdown of the project expenses in detail, since they came out of my pocket.  I did not receive those.

  2. They did not respond to my complaint that the 5% interest came out of my own pocket and was as a result, was of no benefit to me.  They did not point out in the Offering Memorandum where that was stated, nor why it was falsely pitched in meetings as a bonus to the investors.

  3. They did not respond as to how the 5% interest was calculated, nor to my complaint that it was calculated incorrectly for me, and I imagine the other investors also.

  4. They did not respond to my complaint that the sales presentations said that the Development Management Fee and Project Consulting Fee would cover many of the things Yorkton billed extra for, thereby driving the profit down for investors, and most likely increasing the billing to Yorkton.  I would like the project profits recalculated based on what they promised in the meetings.

  5. While I appreciate the work is done on a "a best effort basis and not guaranteed", they made certain promises during the sales presentations of 20% return in 12-18 months (prior to Covid) and I suggest that they were either purposely misleading in the sales meetings to make a sale, very bad at estimating, or very bad at implementing, and should be made to pay for it.  Yes, I "invested $20,000 and received a payout of $23,460 which represents a total profit of $3,460, or 17.3% return on investment.", which sounds good, except it was supposed to be over 12-18 months, not three years.  It was less than 6% return per year, including the 5% interest, which is below inflation, and not even close to the 20% stock market returns during the three years Yorkton had my money.

   

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ******

  Business response

  27/09/2022

  Please find attached our Response Letter to *** ********* *********, and supporting documents.
  
  
   
  

  
  

  Customer response

  29/09/2022

  
  ********** ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I absolutely reject Yorkton’s response, because there is nothing helpful in it.  They are not providing any new information, just sending documents I already had, or providing high-level accounting statements which they should have sent to all the shareholder investors without asking.
  1. I wanted a breakdown of the project expenses in detail, since they came out of my pocket.  I did not receive those.  I want invoices, or at least transactions, including Payee, to see whether Yorkton paid it to itself to increase their profits.  High-level summary statements are not sufficient.  I paid for those expenses, and I want to know where the money went.  And I was told Yorkton’s expenses were covered by the multiple percentages they were already paying themselves.
  2. They did not respond to my complaint that the 5% interest came out of my own pocket and was as a result, was of no benefit to me.  The Offering Memorandum section 7.2 where that was stated, confirms that it is calculated from the date of the subscription proceeds, further proving that Yorkton miscalculated my payout and owe me $572.61 just for this item.  There are still no details of the calculation.
  7.2 Terms of LP Units
  Subscribers for LP Units under this Offering Memorandum and under prior offerings of Class P Units shall be entitled to receive a one-time return equal to 5% per annum, non-compounded, on the capital contribution of such Limited Partner (the “Class P Return”), which will be calculated and accrue from the date of receipt of subscription proceeds by the Partnership until the date the ******* *******, in its sole discretion, closes the final offering of Class P Units. The Class P Return will only by payable following a LP Distribution Event, in priority to the distributions under the Partnership Agreement described below.
  
  The interest was also falsely pitched in meetings as a bonus to the investors.  This is not addressed, nor was I given a payment for the full $2835 interest amount, as promised in the meetings.
  4. They did not respond to my complaint that the sales presentations said that the Development Management Fee and Project Consulting Fee would cover many of the things Yorkton billed extra for, thereby driving the profit down for investors, and most likely increasing the billing to Yorkton.  I would like the project profits recalculated based on what they promised in the meetings.
  Or
  since they made certain promises during the sales presentations of 20% return in 12-18 months (prior to Covid) and I suggest that they were either purposely misleading in the sales meetings to make a sale, very bad at estimating, or very bad at implementing, and should be made to pay for it.  Yes, I "invested $20,000 and received a payout of $23,460 which represents a total profit of $3,460, or 17.3% return on investment.", which sounds good, except it was supposed to be over 12-18 months, not three years.  It was less than 6% return per year, including the 5% interest, which is below inflation and not even close to the 20% stock market returns during the three years Yorkton had my money.  I’m not sure why they keep bringing up the 17.3%, because it is a small amount, and more than 2 or 3 times less than they promised during the sales meetings.  I should receive 40-60 percent returns for the three years, based on their promise of the project being done in 12 – 18 months i.e. $11,342.47, plus the interest $2835.
  If I do not receive the money and information, or a promise of arbitration in the next Yorkton response, I will file complaints with the Alberta and BC Securities Commissions, as well as OBSI, and proceed from there, since Yorkton is not doing anything to resolve the issue.

  This complaint needs to stay open, as Yorkton has done nothing to resolve it.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ******

• Initial Complaint

  27/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I invested in one of the projects of Yorkton Group called Northstar Landing in Edmonton, AB some 15 years ago. Since then no satisfactory updates have been provided to me as an investor despite calling them or sending them email messages. The project is lingering in the deadlock because the company does not have a reasonable exit strategy. It's been a while and they should decide on the project. They don't have clear information as to why the project is being delayed for that 15 years! I want to opt out as an investor and would like BBB to help me with this. Thank you.

  Business response

  09/05/2022

   

  We send out a newsletter to all of our clients in December of each year. The last newsletter we sent out was in December 2021 (See attached). We are also available by phone 5 days a week during business hours and by mobile phone 7 days a week. My mobile phone number is published in every newsletter, and I do not have any missed calls from this client. The following taken from our last newsletter which addresses what is being done currently by Yorkton:

  "•       Yorkton has retained Toma & Bouma for the EETP Food Hub Feasibility Analysis Study.
  •       Yorkton Group is presently in discussions with the City and industry experts to explore the viability of a Food Hub in the EETP. We would like to use this concept to reignite interest in the EETP by Mayor **** and Council.
  •       Food Hubs may include any combination of the following: Food Producers, Food Processors, Food Aggregators, Food Distributors, Food Makers and Food Markets
  •       The EETP is located in a part of the city with a rich history of food production, food markets and food research
  •       Further developing the region’s food assets with food processing, food aggregation, food distribution, food makers and food markets could spark interest and investment in the EETP
  •       An EETP Food Hub could also attract interest from local, provincial and federal government to invest in the area with investments, grants and other direct and indirect investments
  •       Former Mayor **** ***** will be instrumental in pursuing potential partnerships with the City and others orders of government and stakeholders, and end users."

  Exit Strategy:

  
  "The Alberta economy remains a significant challenge to our exit strategy with multiple recessions back-to-back in recent years leading to the current Covid-19 crisis. Despite the challenges, our EETP team lead by ***** ***** continues to work with the City of Edmonton EETP team to achieve the highest and best use of our land parcel. The land parcel continues to be professionally managed and debt-free.
  
  When the EETP was created by the administration of Mayor ******* ****** within the boundary of Edmonton, there was a vision to turn the EETP into a major industrial EETP; at the time it was one of the most anticipated areas for future development in Edmonton, and there was a plan to incentivize industries to locate in the EETP. Subsequently to former Mayor ******’s departure from office, the incoming Mayor *** ****** administration had different priorities and insufficient action was taken to incentivize industry to locate in the EETP during his two terms as Mayor of Edmonton.
  
  For example, Edmonton currently has the highest industrial taxation rate of any municipality in the greater Edmonton region, so it makes more sense for industry to locate in Ft. Saskatchewan, Strathcona County, Leduc County etc., which has significantly lower tax rates, which is why we have always been advocating changes to our industrial tax structure as well as providing other incentives for industry to locate in the EETP, in order to be competitive. We had in fact done a PowerPoint presentation in front of former Mayor *** ****** (and Council) when he was in power itemizing what needs to happen to reignite interest in the EETP, and also showed the business models of successful industrial parks around the world, but no action was undertaken on any of our recommendations.
  
  With the election Mayor **** and Council, there is now an opportunity to reinvigorate policies to attract industry. Recently, prior to the municipal election, we had meetings with Mayor **** and Council members, and we had extensive discussions about the EETP, and what actions will have to be taken to reignite interest in the EETP from industry. Based on our discussions, there was significant interest from Mayor **** and council members to see former Mayor ******’s vision for the EETP to come to fruition to increase industrial and commercial tax revenue for Edmonton, which was the original reason for creating the EETP. Over 80% of Edmonton’s tax revenue comes from residential taxation which is not sustainable over the long term.
  
  Our plan is to meet with Mayor **** and Council once again when the Food Hub Feasibility Analysis Study by Toma and Bouma commissioned by Yorkton, as referenced above is completed in the coming months with **** ***** spearheading our efforts.
  
  With vaccination campaigns expected to unfold in Canada in the new year, we believe an economic recovery is underway is in sight, perhaps as early as 2022. Our plan remains to exit the project at the earliest opportunity when market conditions permit a profitable exit; note that Yorkton is the largest investor of our projects holding about 10% of the land so it is also in our best interest as well to exit the projects at the earliest opportunity." 

   

  Our clients do have the option of selling their interest in the project to anyone at any time. Please note that legally we cannot redeem one client at the exclusion of others.

  Thank you.

   

  Customer response

  10/05/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am ***ecting this response because no newsletter has been sent to me for updates. I used to call their office and Mr. *** directly from time to time, and every time they told me the same old story with no solid assurance or a plan. Being fed up with that, I stopped calling them anymore. It has been more than 15 years since I invested in that project with no foreseeable outcome yet. They should have told their clients from the beginning that it’s a lousy project with initial focus on energy and now it’s food. They can’t hold investors money for that long. There has to be a reasonable exit strategy in the foreseeable future. This can’t go on forever. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *****

  Business response

  13/05/2022

   

  The client has changed his e-mail address. We have now updated the e-mail address on our file with his new e-mail address. We have sent him a copy of our last newsletter (see attached) as well as a "Contact Change Submission" form in case any of his other personal information has changed. The newsletter is also available for download on our website. 

  First of all, the client PURCHASED land within the Edmonton Energy and Technology Park (EETP) within the Edmonton city limits and he is registered on title to the property at Alberta Land Titles as a co-owner of the land. His purchase contract also states clearly that he purchased land. The client already knows this. The land is a debt free asset of the client. To say that we are holding his money is a misinterpretation of fact. The newsletter as well as my previous response indicates very clearly the current situation and what we are doing to exit the project at the earliest opportunity.

  The EETP is a project of the City of Edmonton; as mentioned in the newsletter, the City needs to provide incentives and policy changes in order to attract business to the EETP; we are working with our consultants to help the City to come up with a plan to attract businesses to the EETP. Yorkton is the largest shareholder in the property; we also would like to exit the project as soon as possible which is why we are diligently working with our consultants to achieve the highest and best use of the land.

  Thank you.

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