Florida Firm Ordered to Stop Selling Investments

California regulators on Monday ordered a Florida firm to stop selling senior housing investments that the company claims could bring annual returns of as much as 35%.

The Department of Corporations alleged the offers by Orlando-based Tropical Village Inc. violated California securities laws. A classified advertisement in the Los Angeles Times claimed investors could earn a 35% return for buying and renting senior triplexes in one of three developments in Florida and Georgia.

The company also ran a full-page ad in the October issue of Money magazine projecting a 29% profit on a “high return with low risk” investment.

That advertisement also listed a Texas location.

Tropical Village executives could not be reached for comment.

The company is not registered to do business in California, nor does it have the proper permits to sell investments, the state Department of Corporations said. The department’s “desist and refrain” order lists the company, its president and owner, Patrick B. Kirkland, and its sales executive, Heather Showalter.