Real Estate Author’s Firm Folds as Debts Accumulate

A Westlake Village firm that promoted author Albert J. Lowry’s books, seminars and television programs on how to get rich by investing in real estate has closed under pressure from creditors, the company’s chairman disclosed Tuesday.

The firm, Success Development Institute, closed in the face of $2.5 million in debts and has dismissed all of its 30 workers, Chairman David Hart said.

It was unclear whether Lowry, 58, who founded the business in 1973, was still involved in running the company.

Hart said that Lowry, who could not be reached for comment, sold the firm two years ago and has not been an officer of the company since. Hart said Lowry’s only continuing role with the company was selling products such as cassette tapes that were produced by Success Development.

Lowry Listed in Document

But a document filed by the company on March 18 with the California secretary of state lists Lowry as the company’s chief executive, chief financial officer and only director. Hart is listed in the document, an annual statement listing company officers, as the company’s secretary and as “agent for service of process,” or the person to whom legal documents are served.

The company also was known as Lowry Group Inc. until June 11, when it filed a notice with the state that it was changing its name to Success Development Institute.

On July 1, the company sent a letter to creditors disclosing that it had debts of $2.5 million offset by cash and property worth only $45,500.

Lowry is one of a group of authors and lecturers who advocate seeking financial independence through real-estate investing, often with no down payment. Lowry began publishing books and conducting seminars nationwide in 1976. He is the author of such books as “Hidden Fortunes in Real Estate,” “How to Make Money in Real Estate With Government Loans and Programs” and “How to Become Financially Independent by Investing in Real Estate,” a national best seller in 1980.

2-Day Seminars

Lowry and his associates have conducted frequent free introductory seminars at hotels to encourage people to sign up for two-day real-estate seminars produced by Success Development at a cost of $495 for individuals and $795 for couples.

Topics typically covered were how to buy a home with no down payment, how to get financing with bad credit and how to legally avoid paying income taxes. One ad placed last April boasted that 150,000 people in the past 10 years had used Lowry’s methods to achieve financial independence.

Hart said the company’s largest creditor, American Express, is owed about $550,000 in credit-card charges for the costs of putting on seminars. He said American Express officials told him two weeks ago that, because of the debts, they would not give Success Development payments of about $115,000 from customers who used American Express cards. He said Wells Fargo froze a Success Development account.

According to the letter sent to creditors in July, the company lost $700,363 in the fiscal year ended March 31 on revenue of $19.8 million.