Weeks after Amber Fernandez’s home was hit by floodwaters high enough she could kayak in her backyard, a man with a bright yellow flyer said she had a code violation, and she could work with his company to fix it.
But she knew that wasn’t true, she said.
Fernandez was one of several people to encounter the company’s representatives, who said they were property investors who often worked with Chattanooga’s local government. The flyer said the house may have received, or soon would receive, a formal code violation notice from the city — and that the company could give the homeowners a cash offer and close in as little as a week to take the property and all fees and violations off the homeowners’ hands.
The city has since called the flyers “bogus,” saying the company — Swift Property Solutions — has no relationship with the city and has no access to code compliance data. But the company’s founder says otherwise.