San Francisco 'Dream House' Raffle Has Never Awarded Top Prize

Susie Steimle reports on annual "Dream House" charity raffle getting scrutinized for not awarding top prize in ten years (5-16-2018)

[@kevinl6231]

They should just raffle off a regular house that someone could afford to keep.

[@69A12SuperBee]

Those words don’t belong in the same sentence when it is concerning California.

[@demonvictim]

It's kinda fucked up that you can win a prize that will cost you more then whwt you will in a decades to claim.

[@skinflutey]

dandanthetaximan or Bakersfield

[@haverjr]

@@demonvictim Over a decade LOL i'm sorry but as it said in the video the tax on that house alone is 5 million so i don't know who you hang out with but 98% of americans don't make anywhere close to 500k a year to even pay the tax. as others have said they should auction a more "moderate" San Fran home around the 1-2 million dollar amount and cover all costs/taxes for the property for lets say 5 years which would still be less then their advertised 10 million dollar home. That way the winner could live there and possibly rent out a spare bedroom to cover the future property tax that would start after the 5 year period.

[@demonvictim]

@@haverjr I was saying your total gross income in decades meaning plural and if you live under a bridge and spent no money at all.

[@ChrisCa1601]

As the old saying goes: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

[@VincentWilliams007]

Exactly. I remember when they were promoting this, thing, it has a cash.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Correct, such a wise saying.

[@tonyl6239]

It's rigged.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Lack of sales means no house winner. Even if there were enough in sales, there isn't money awarded for the upfront taxes due to collect the prize. I believe 24% is required upfront to collect. One issue with these raffles is they don't post what the actual grand prize ends up being.

[@rpietsch9]

We have a winner -- the guy running the "raffle".

[@peggyclinton8343]

Yeah, I bet he no longer teaches.

[@fidjet]

🤣😂🤣😂 Sad thooo

[@NorCalProspecting.]

I once bough a raffle where the winner would get a car months later I saw the guy and asked him who had won he said hes wife won the prize. Lol

[@nsr5961]

Ronald P pretty much. People pay 150 dollars to be in the raffle. They collect the money and nobody wins and nobody knows who won. All the money people payed to be in this scam fake raffle went to the guy running the raffle.

[@wildfire160]

@@nsr5961 Hummmm re-watch the video ...it tells you that over the period the lottery's been running two people DID win the house but took the cash prize instead and 100s of lesser prizes are won every year,plus even in the years when the house wasn't won because of lower ticket sales a large cash prize was given...

[@Andrew-ez6gr]

Each ticket is $150.... 64,000 people that’s $9,600,000 they reached that amount of people twice that’s 19,200,000

[@86kickass]

They give away a lot of smaller prizes

[@Skepticalio]

Now this is journalism! Cheers to whom ever wrote, produced, directed and reported on this. Great Story. I hope you go the Dundie Award.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Good stuff.

[@bfukngu8841]

I wouldn’t want to live in that house. The utilities alone would be a struggle, and the taxes would ruin you

[@erex9875]

Lovely Black Conservative Scorpion especially in San Francisco

[@fitter1972]

You don't live in it. You get a loan to cover the costs of taxes and then you lease it out to rich techies and make a killing. Hold on to it for a few years and sell it for millions more than it was worth when you got it.

[@katie-st8nx]

You would if you could afford it

[@Starhopper6]

Local news. “Daughter of the raffle creator wins raffle”

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Wow.

[@hottuna2006]

Sadly to say, this is why stopped giving to charities and now instead donate my time and services to local causes I feel aligned with.

[@DelilahZoe]

I whole-heartedly think that's great!

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Great!

[@warrenpeece1726]

I really appreciate an organization like Charity Watch.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Yes.

[@deathkitten7635]

If you can’t afford the house before the raffle you can’t afford it after. Repairs, insurance, taxes ect. Houses are expensive to maintain.

[@MG-im5hm]

Yup. Look at HGTV dream house. Most take the cash option cause of taxes.

[@fakhrwalker6804]

You can win it then sell it

[@timg2973]

@@fakhrwalker6804 if you have the cash for taxes 1st.

[@lilenr3499]

that is the catch. they make you drool over a dream house that they know you can't afford to keep

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

No option for the house in most, if not all cases, depending on the raffle.

[@sandydegener6436]

How cool! Raffle off a house, keep the money, claim no reaching of the monetary thresh hold, and "keep" the house.

[@nordicvolkan]

Scam , Scam , Scam, and more Scam.

[@tagacale1733]

scamfrancisco

[@alanbang6249]

sue falsed advertisement......👍

[@DeeTruth415]

Good!

[@joeylaker724able]

You can’t as told in the video the important stuff is in fine print which people are ignoring.

[@Andrew-ez6gr]

Sesh exactly

[@frankmundo4300]

She got a money and is happy

[@hopeworldstudio]

Thanks for telling us the truth about these raffles.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Yes, share this video, especially if you live in the states of California, Washington, or Colorado. EDIT: really anywhere because some of these raffles do ads all over the country.

[@jaymeez]

What!! I bought one of those back when they were giving away a place in Santana Row. This is Fake! This is America where people promise things but find a way around it

[@JavierHernandez-zv4of]

jaymeez those are liberals lol

[@y2kxj]

When we wins cars homes lotto etc, in Canada we pay zero taxes on it...

[@Comeswoopfam]

The way it should be

[@Timothee_Chalamet_CMBYN]

N Ryan so it ain’t

[@Timothee_Chalamet_CMBYN]

N Ryan 60 million isn’t small?

[@Timothee_Chalamet_CMBYN]

N Ryan yours don’t start at 40 million lol. What we talking about here, scratch odds? State lottery? The point is you ppl still pay taxes in any amount big or small. We don’t pay nothing 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@Timothee_Chalamet_CMBYN]

N Ryan and you paying taxes 🤣

[@bernlin2000]

It's not a giveaway if you have to pay millions of dollars in taxes. Total scam.

[@wildfire160]

Its not a giveaway though,its a prize in a lottery and unfortunately unlike almost everywhere else in the world where you usually win the prize as advertised in the USA they hammer you for taxes(ie:in the UK/EU if you win a £1,000,000 you don't pay tax on it)

[@marionwilson8141]

I want my money back

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Ask for a refund and see what they say.

[@jsung352]

Ha! Same goes for Silicon Valley dream home sweepstakes raffle, too! $4 million home to win? Do the dummies know about taxes afterwards? Did anyone even take the cash prize instead?

[@cali2468]

You could always sell the house.

[@estellepatella2520]

Watch the raffle ticket sales drop after this story airs.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

You would think, but not enough people see videos like this.

[@jerri415]

NEVER again!

[@chefantonioskitchencatering]

its a sham. and its been a sham for years.

[@gg45317]

So does the guy own the houses or is he just saying you could win this house and showing random nice houses he doesnt own.

[@SteveinSanFrancisco]

I was always sceptical... especially when they got Willy Brown to endorse them 😑

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

I've heard that name come up a few times.

[@haha20042003]

The property taxes at 1.5% a year for a 9 million house is 135k a year and the 55% tax for winning the property makes it a no brainer to get the cash option instead.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

The question is, what amount is the cash option? It's based on sales and they don't post what the winner really gets.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Dig deeper as to how much cash is actually awarded...

[@gosikh]

I bought multiple tickets in multiple years. It is sad to see this. I will not be donating to YB again, let alone visit them. What a scam!

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Yes, spread the word! Share this video on social media to warn others!

[@eat_the_octopus]

17 million bucks to trick folk into donating money. Looks like that school teacher found a way around hard work.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

It's misleading EVEN if people pour over the fine print. They DO NOT post past sales numbers. They DO NOT post current sales numbers. They DO NOT post what the REAL grand prize ends up being.

[@peterjgeraghty]

Good research. Good journalism. Thank you.

[@martell8560]

Well if I had 5.5million for taxes and fees I wouldn't need your "free" house.

[@SNguyen330]

This is why I never donate or participate in any raffles for charities... bunch of crooks and scammers

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Tell them that.

[@madnalab3901]

I recalled a while back ago. a rich man, who went bankrupt, came with an idea to raffle his mansion.................a ticket sold for $$$$...........but in truth this was just a legal scam........

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Sad.

[@abearambula8511]

So it’s more of an advertising scheme for the organizers to make money. How can an average joe pay 5 million in taxes when the house is free?! Crazy might as well take the home if it was given and sell it!

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Depending on the raffle, the threshold may not be reached and the house not even an option.

[@jarrowood]

Just got an ad for this in the mail the other day...

[@moheganproductions5538]

Well time to go squat inside that house

[@jackmccourt3542]

Thanks for reporting on this

[@miyakochan2602]

Thank you so much for this! I did not have to lose my money!

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Yes.

[@patricksanders858]

I read the fine print the first time this started and realized it's a scam.

[@anthonyuber5717]

So wrong. Scam that should be shut down!

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Sad...

[@melovetorun]

A scam! Should have known.

[@deadliza2034]

Pretty much the same story for the HGTV Dream Home giveaway only 6 of the past 21 winners actually lived in the prize house due to the enormous amount of taxes involved.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

A much different story... The Dream House Raffle house isn't available to be won most of the time.

[@lothean2099]

I never buy into these house giveaways. I knew there's a catch some how. And now you know also.

[@patricksanders858]

The "winner" would have to pay real estate taxes, city taxes ect ect ect.

[@leontynehudson1748]

Scam artists, pyramid, ponzie scheme, very sad 😔 Pure GREED!

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Sad.

[@muzkat101]

I use to participate in these raffles; at least 7 times before, but never one a single item. I knew my odds were against me from winning, despite the higher chance threshold, but I realized that after spending over a thousand dollars in raffle tickets wasn't worth the likely chance of winning just a toaster oven wasn't worth the chances anymore - it is simply just a bad idea.

[@bartonpercival2147]

I hope it was a top of the line toaster oven

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

The invention of toast has to be up there with sliced bread.

[@jorgehoty]

I guess I'm not buying I would take the cash prize of 4 million. Anyways ????

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

You think there is $4 million available if the house isn't? See my playlist.

[@clarkclarke]

WoW!! $150 for a raffle ????? What an expensive carrot on a stick ...

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

I entered this twice many years ago, but I knew it was a fraud (especially) after they hired Willie Brown to advertise it. This guy Zeavy is a con artist/ fraud scammer.

[@bartonpercival2147]

Hahahahaha, the same Willie Brown that nailed Kamala Harris 😆

[@lilenr3499]

Glad I opened this link from dream house sosc which I have been a patron of.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Did you see my playlist?

[@ChakatNightspark]

well instead of having the dream house built. why pay the money to have it built when that money could be spent for the programs instead.

[@DeHirvilammi]

FRAUD FOR SURE

[@hjones1]

You know what’s not a dream? That tax bill you would get.

[@homeisneptune9315]

10 million for that sloppy pile?

[@JigglypuffTutorials]

this is why we need local news

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

True.

[@jdwentworth1746]

I’m surprised there are no squatters squatting in the house since that’s a thing now

[@lilenr3499]

They are intentionally using a dream house that would be beyond the winner's affordability, so the winner will choose the money.

[@Foxie635]

Taxes alone is probably the same as my car

[@gosikh]

I will not be buying this ticket again. This is a scam if no one is winning the house.

[@seand67]

When something is too good to be true, then.......

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Yes.

[@Arrowflight]

This should be illegal. They should be like the uk where there are no taxes for a prize

[@_DrDrakeRamoray]

So basically they paid him half of what they received. Sounds like they got ripped off with the free scam money they received.

[@Metsfan1986]

Even without the potential taxes, If somebody "Wins" this raffle, chances are they can't afford the overhead to even keep the home.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Forget the taxes and costs associated with home ownership, the bigger issue in my mind is they advertise a prize that most likely won't be won. The threshold is rarely met. The raffle I participated in the threshold has NEVER been met. They also don't post their sales numbers. They also don't post what the real grand prize was.

[@brianwilson9501]

Never understood that. It was an obvious scam just as all are. I every year recieved their mail trying to get me to buy their tickets. I knew some buying multiple tickets yet won nothing.

[@danconlan64]

LOL San Francisco: 2:29 is Daly City WTF gotta use up that old footage

[@kanank13]

great reporting and congratualtion for exposing the scam artists. Willy Brown appearing in the ad says it all!! big time scam and why arent these people in prison ? Big time marketing scam!! I haave been tempted many times to buy a ticket but never did. Additionally, I have never been to this Yerba Buena Museum and I never will because they are running on money scammed from gulliple people. Shame on Yerba Buena arts , the staff and volunteers.

[@12GaugePadawan]

Kinda makes sense. The raffle take (65,000 x $150) has to be greater than the cost of the house.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

True, but the threshold is rarely met. The one I participated in the threshold NEVER has been met. So, they're advertising for something that won't be won... They don't post their sales numbers on their site either. People just assume that the goal is met. They don't post what the real grand prize is either. It's 50% of the net proceeds, but those numbers aren't visible.

[@ausxau]

Even if you won, the annual property tax is ~$101,790.00

[@sewmeonekenobi639]

So if they don’t give away the house, what do they do with it?

[@charitywatch1546]

I'm not sure in all cases, but I know in Washington state with the Special Olympics they offered the same house in 2019 and 2020. There probably is someone living in it and they'll agree to sell it if enough tickets are sold. They had record sales this year and still were far from reaching the goal. Huge legal scam!

[@Invisableme39]

Charities, non profits…almost 20 mill..😂😂😂😂

[@JChang0114]

Imagine the property tax.

[@mlmoreno75]

Not surprised

[@mauriceclemens3286]

You couldn’t afford the property taxes if you won it!

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

The bigger issue in my opinion is that the advertised prize isn't available to be won in most cases because the threshold is rarely, if ever, won. The one I participated in the threshold has never been met. They don't post what their sales numbers are either. They don't post what the actual grand prize amount is.

[@Gibbo1]

'Win my dream Brighton home" was a recent one we had in England and no one won that either, Check it out, it's on KZbin

[@techworld-kc6lt]

Wow I’m glad I didn’t throw away my hard earned $150 if I had bought their ticket as I got their flyers in my mail every year

[@Wfsw]

So he scammed over 17million

[@tamalac5170]

No dought CA Politicians involved in this scan.

[@megalampz]

“Fine frint”

[@OscarDiaz-nn9ch]

San Francisco is that place where you should live in a minivan and performing a tech job. Within 6 months of pay. You can buy a home in GA 10 times bigger.

[@ghostofreagan3181]

The only charity I give to is straight into the hand that needs it. Way back in 1985 I heard about the president of the red cross was retiring to $500,000 a year for the rest of his life.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Nice.

[@jasonsimmons6684]

A scam in California? Say it ain't so

[@bayradionews415]

Biggest scam ever

[@user-eb4vs6si1n]

Even if you "win" the house. You'd have to pay taxes on the property, congratulations you are instantly bankrupt.

[@tracylynnreiki1838]

Wow. I just saw this. It said I won $100 on the website but they sent me a check for $14.61! This was in 2012!

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Did you contact the organization? It sounds like they owe you more money...

[@richyleed]

Sounds like a scam. A scam with a lot of loopholes.

[@WestCoastR1der]

NEVER, EVER GIVE TO CHARITY

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Never will I give to those charities listed on this video.

[@sdaly415]

Haha, I saw that and knew it was absolutely fake.

[@darrylhamlin7475]

It’s a dream house raffle not a guaranteed house raffle.

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

So true.

[@h_j_v]

For all practical purposes, you have a good as zero chance of winning the powerball or any other meaningful lottery prize. Why not hold the state run scams accountable?

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

The difference is the lottery tells you the odds and someone eventually wins. These guys say you could win this house and then in the fine print say XXXXX number of tickets have to be sold, etc. and that rarely, if ever, happens. They also don't post how many tickets were sold. They also don't post what the real grand prize was.

[@johnbeer5242]

It's a dream house ppl 😂

[@derrekmilby1959]

Literally. Only exists in our dreams.

[@UNPOCOLOCO444]

Exactly

[@Flipper86]

Most folks couldn’t afford to maintain that much of a house.

[@whyamiheredlb]

How much are those property taxes??

[@jasonsanders5451]

Wouldn’t it be a better idea to give away a more affordable home where taxes are paid for?

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

That is a better idea, but I think their goal is to not give the house away. In most cases the home is not available to be won because the threshold isn't met. The one I participated in the threshold has never been met. They don't post the sales numbers on their site. They don't post what the real grand prize is on their site either...

[@AnnaLexi]

*_Be careful what you wish for.._*

[@kotk05]

Didn't even think about the property taxes, no thanks.

[@Aoudhubillahi]

This is highly complex. But, definitely an exceptional expose. I did not know this. But, in unpacking it there are so many moving parts. 1. There is what the Holy Scriptures say are allowances and limits concerning Charity Organization (because Charity is an Institution of God); 2. There is the observance of the Ethics of what is actually taking place; 3. There is the question of if it is Charity or a Raffle; 4. There is the question of if it is a Raffle or Gambling; 5. There is the question of if Gambling can be considered Charity. So there are some things to unpack on nomemclature or labeling (terms and definitions) associated with the activity, in addition to, the ethics and fulfillment of what the public has been lead to believe about the event. This brings me to 6. Is the public being misled or deceived by what has been advertised as the event, and its terms and definitions.

[@ShakespeareCafe]

Rather spend $115 on the Powerball...

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

The jackpots are really getting up there again...

[@profitsoverpeople7178]

Perfect I just need to copy the fine print and start my own raffle ticket sells but of course for used cars instead

[@davidho9238]

The whole dream house thing sound like a scam. I always wonder how the money that raised really been used.

[@KristinA-mt8ql]

Oh my goodness I’m one of the morons who have been buying 4 tickets every year for the past 10 years for this raffle...

[@DreamHouseRaffleScam]

Spread this video on social media so others know how they operate.

[@bartonpercival2147]

Really?????? $600 a year on that scam raffle, you are a moron!!!!!!!!!!!!