Cardone Capital is Grant Cardone’s real estate fund manager, open to both accredited and non-accredited investors. This review covers fees, verified investor returns, the ongoing class action, and the key questions to ask before committing capital.
The real estate crowdfunding category is growing, the market is projected at USD 9.86 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 28.84 billion by 2031, so the stakes of choosing the right platform are rising.
Key Takeaways
- Cardone Capital targets a 15% IRR and 6% annualized income from its multifamily funds, but multiple verified investor sources report actual distributions in the 3–4% range annually.
- The firm charges stacked fees, 1% acquisition + 1% annual asset management + 1% disposition, plus a 35% manager promote, a structure reviewers describe as manager-favorable.
- A securities class action was certified March 27, 2026, with a jury trial set for March 9, 2027, centering on alleged misrepresentation of projected returns.
- The SEC sent a comment letter to Cardone Equity Fund V in July 2018 asking the fund to remove the projected 15% return from its offering materials because the fund lacked a basis for that figure.
- Non-accredited investors need a minimum investment for Regulation A offerings; minimums vary by offering, so investors should review the applicable offering documents.
- Capital is illiquid and no secondary-market transaction is assured; some investor reviews reported distribution reductions during the 2022 period during floating-rate debt stress.
Cardone Capital is a Aventura, Florida-based real estate fund manager founded by Grant Cardone in 2017. It pools investor capital into multifamily apartment funds, charges stacked fees totaling roughly 1% acquisition, 1% annual, and 1% disposition plus a 35% promote, and targets a 15% IRR, a figure the SEC questioned in 2018. A securities class action was certified in March 2026, with trial set for March 2027.
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Explore Ark7 OpportunitiesCardone Capital at a Glance
Cardone Capital is Grant Cardone’s real estate fund manager, described by Bloomberg as a company that identifies, acquires, and manages income-producing properties to provide investors with capital preservation, distributions, and appreciation potential. The company is headquartered in Aventura, Florida, with SEC filings listing the address as 18851 NE 29th Avenue STE 1000, Aventura, FL 33180.
The firm has operated since 2017 and offers investments through two primary regulatory structures: Regulation A+ offerings open to non-accredited investors, and Regulation D offerings limited to accredited investors, individuals who meet SEC wealth and income thresholds under Rule 501(a) of Regulation D.
Quick profile:
- Founded: 2017 by Grant Cardone
- Strategy: Multifamily apartment funds, pooled investor capital
- Portfolio scale: Approximately $3–4 billion in real estate (per Yahoo Finance, 2025)
- Minimum investment: A stated minimum for non-accredited investors (Regulation A offerings); minimums vary by offering
- Distribution frequency: Quarterly (varies by fund)
- Regulation: SEC-regulated offerings; multiple Form 1-K annual reports on file
Who Is Grant Cardone?
Grant Cardone is a sales trainer, author, and real estate investor with a rumored net worth of $400 million as of 2025. He founded Cardone Capital in 2017 after building a following through books such as “The 10X Rule” and an active social media presence. His personal brand is inseparable from the fund’s marketing, promotional claims about expected returns were amplified across his social channels and are now the subject of litigation.
The firm is Grant Cardone’s primary real estate vehicle. His public persona drives deal flow and investor interest, but that same promotional style drew regulatory scrutiny when the 15% return projection was featured in offering materials that the SEC staff said the projection lacked adequate support.
How Cardone Capital Works: Fund Structure
Cardone Capital raises money through numbered equity funds, Fund IV, Fund V, Fund VI, and so on, each structured as a limited liability company. Investor capital is pooled and deployed into large apartment complexes, primarily in Sun Belt markets. Investors receive a preferred return on capital before the sponsor takes its share of profits.
How the structure works:
- Investors buy Class A units in a fund LLC at a stated price per unit. One SEC filing shows Class A units offered at $100 per unit in a Tier II Regulation A+ offering.
- The fund acquires multifamily properties using investor equity plus debt financing.
- Cash flow from rents, after operating expenses and debt service, is distributed to investors, typically quarterly.
- When (and if) a property is sold, remaining proceeds are distributed after fees and the manager’s carried interest.
One important structural note: the IRR and appreciation upside investors may have been shown depend entirely on eventual asset sales. As one Reddit discussion noted, none of the funds had sold their properties, meaning any total-return calculation remained theoretical for early investors.
In January 2025, Grant Cardone announced a new direction for the firm: a $88 million fund that mixes real estate and bitcoin, with property cash flow dollar-cost averaged into bitcoin every month for four years, shifting the fund’s asset mix toward 30% bitcoin. The bitcoin fund represents a meaningful strategy shift from pure multifamily real estate.
What Does Cardone Capital Charge? Fees and the Promote Explained
The fee structure is one of the most consequential factors for net investor returns, and Cardone Capital’s layers have drawn consistent criticism from independent reviewers.
The Core Fee Layers
Per a publicly available Private Placement Memorandum for Cardone Equity Fund 24 LLC, the manager receives:
- An annual asset management fee on aggregate capital contributions
- An acquisition fee on each asset purchased
- A disposition fee on each asset sold
- A financing coordination fee on the principal amount of each loan, including refinancings
A 2026 forensic review found stacked fees of 1% acquisition + 1% annual + 1% disposition, plus a 35% promote. Reviewers characterized this as manager-favorable and above the norm for comparable private real estate funds.
The Promote Explained
The “promote” is the manager’s share of profits above a preferred return hurdle. When a deal clears its hurdle rate, the promote kicks in. It is often structured as a 70/30 or 80/20 split favoring limited partners, with the sponsor’s upside growing when the deal performs best. At Cardone Capital, the carried interest is reported to be 35%.
One early BiggerPockets analysis of a Cardone deal noted the practical impact: “The 6% is actually 3% (minus 1% management fee annually, 1% disposition and 1% acquisition fee).” Investors evaluating the headline distribution yield should calculate the net figure after all fee layers.
One independent review estimated that Cardone Capital collects 38.4% in total fees and profits per property with a fee structure reviewers describe as higher than most private real estate funds.
What Investors Actually Paid
A 2024 review detailed 1% annual, 1% acquisition, and 1% disposition fees as concerns, alongside low liquidity and lack of investor control, while advising against investing. The practical question for any investor is the net internal rate of return after all four fee layers. Verification on a fund-by-fund basis by a third party is essential before committing capital.
Cardone Capital Returns: What the Evidence Shows
The 15% IRR Target and the SEC Letter
Cardone Capital has promoted a 15% IRR target and 6% annualized income returns from property income. The 15% figure became the central problem in the ongoing litigation.
In July 2018, the SEC sent a comment letter to Cardone Equity Fund V telling the fund it had no basis for a projected 15% annualized return and ordered it removed from offering materials. Per a June 2025 report, the Ninth Circuit revived a class action over these alleged misleading 15% return projections and SEC warnings. The same report states Grant Cardone allegedly continued promoting a 15% return on social media even after the SEC warning.
The Ninth Circuit’s 2025 ruling held that removal of projected return figures from offering materials following an SEC comment letter can support an inference that those statements lacked a reasonable basis when made.
What Investors Report Receiving
Verified investor experience diverges from the marketed targets:
- A January 2026 Trustpilot reviewer with four years of investment experience reported returns of 3 to 4% annually, well below the 6% income figure the fund was claiming.
- A Wall Street Oasis discussion characterizes Cardone Capital investor distributions as in the 3–4% range annually.
- A Reddit user with active investments reported 5–6% cash-on-cash annual returns paid monthly, with the caveat that no fund had sold properties.
- One investor on Reddit reported an 8% return from September 2017 to September 2018, an early-period figure not representative of subsequent performance.
On InvestClearly, one investor noted: “Invested in the Fund IV fund back in 2019 and monthly distributions have been distributed every single month since then.” This positive data point applies to one fund over a specific period.
Distribution Cuts in 2022
Some investor reviews reported that Cardone Capital funds cut distributions during the 2022 period as rising floating-rate debt pressures hit cash flow. That reduction, combined with the gap between marketed and realized returns, explains much of the negative investor sentiment across review platforms.
Is Cardone Capital Safe? Regulation, Litigation, and Risk
The Securities Class Action
The securities class action certified in March 2026 is the most material risk for prospective investors. It centers on alleged misrepresentation of the 15% IRR target. In 2020, investor Luis Pino sued Cardone and Cardone Capital after investing in two of the firm’s real estate funds. The complaint alleges Cardone Capital made materially false and misleading statements. These concerned the 15% IRR target, monthly distributions, and debt obligations in its offerings. The complaint also alleges the offering documents omitted material facts about how Fund V and Fund VI property acquisitions would be financed.
A federal appeals court revived the lawsuit, finding that investors may have been misled by bold promises of high returns. The same suit points to the SEC letter that asked Cardone to remove the projected return and distribution figures because they lacked adequate support.
The class action was certified on March 27, 2026, and a jury trial is set for March 9, 2027. Among the allegations is that Cardone continued touting annualized returns of 15 percent after the SEC questioned the basis for such projections.
Liquidity Risk
Cardone Capital funds do not offer an active secondary market. There is no assurance that properties will be sold on any particular timeline, and the litigation creates additional uncertainty about fund operations and potential monetary judgments.
Tax Form Delays
One operational complaint that appears across reviews: 1099 tax forms often arrive only at the end of March or the beginning of April, delaying an investor’s ability to file their taxes.
What Verified Investors Are Saying
The Cardone Capital review picture across platforms is mixed and polarized. The divergence between positive and negative reviews is real, and understanding why helps prospective investors calibrate expectations.
Positive feedback patterns:
- Some Fund IV investors report consistent monthly distributions since 2019
- A small segment report returns at the higher end of the 5–6% cash-on-cash range
Negative feedback patterns (sourced):
- On Trustindex: “Investing in Cardone Capital was one of the worst financial decisions I’ve ever made” and “Communication is poor, transparency is nonexistent”
- On Trustpilot: investors report 3–4% actual returns against a promised 6%, and late tax forms
- Per one independent analysis: investors complain about a lack of earnings information, low returns, false advertising, and poor customer service
- 99consumer reports 40 reviews averaging 3.1 out of 5
- A 2026 forensic review rates Cardone Capital 2.0 out of 5 based on SEC filings and primary documents
Fund vintage explains the divergence in investor experiences. Early investors in well-leveraged pre-2020 deals received consistent distributions during a low-rate environment. Post-2020 investors, particularly those in floating-rate funds, bore the full impact of the 2022 rate cycle, which caused the distribution cuts.
How This Compares: Ark7’s Approach to Fractional Real Estate
For investors researching Cardone Capital’s review, it is worth understanding what a structurally different real estate platform looks like as a reference point.
Ark7 is a fractional real estate app that lets investors buy shares in individual curated rental homes starting at $20.00 per share. Shares represent ownership in specific properties, not pooled fund vehicles, and monthly distributions are paid as passive income straight to investor accounts. The platform operates across 10 markets and is going national.
Ark7’s verified track record:
- No investor losses since its 2019 launch, with over $3.5 million distributed to investors and more than $23 million in property value funded as of March 2025
- 94.81% occupancy rate across its portfolio
- 230,000+ active investors as of March 2025
- 4.7 rating on the Apple App Store
Ark7 investors include Cassie Han, a Senior Software Engineer at Google who is part-owner of 2 properties in 2 states and notes “The Berkeley apartment has a very stable cash flow, while the Austin SFH provides really good appreciation potential.” Emma Chen, a veteran real estate investor, uses Ark7 to “diversify my current real estate portfolio without adding more to the workload.”
Ark7’s offerings are facilitated through Dalmore Group LLC, a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Neither Ark7 nor Dalmore makes investment recommendations. Offerings are SEC Regulation A+ qualified; securities are issued electronically and are not listed on any public exchange. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Comparison table:
| Dimension | Ark7 | Cardone Capital |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Investment | Shares start at $20 per share | A stated minimum for non-accredited investors (Regulation A offerings); minimums vary by offering |
| Investor Eligibility | Non-accredited and accredited investors eligible | Non-accredited and accredited investors eligible |
| Fee Structure | See ark7.com for current fee disclosures | Stacked annual, acquisition, and disposition fees (see offering documents for current rates) |
| Investor Loss Record | No investor losses since 2019 launch (as of March 2025) | Not published |
| Total Distributions Paid | Over $3.5M distributed to investors (as of March 2025) | Not published |
| Occupancy Rate | 94.81% | Not published |
| Active Investor Base | 230,000+ active investors (as of March 2025) | Not published |
| Litigation / Regulatory Action | None noted | Securities class action certified March 2026; jury trial set March 2027; SEC previously questioned 15% return projections |
If you want to explore a fractional real estate platform with a transparent track record, no investor losses since launch, and monthly passive income from individual rental home shares, visit Ark7 to browse available properties.
Frequently Asked Questions
What fees does Cardone Capital charge?
Cardone Capital charges an annual asset management fee, an acquisition fee, and a disposition fee on fund assets, plus a financing coordination fee on each loan. The manager also earns a carried interest (promote) of approximately 35% of profits above the preferred return hurdle.
What is the minimum investment for Cardone Capital in 2026?
The minimum investment for non-accredited investors is a stated amount for Regulation A offerings. Minimums vary by offering, so accredited and non-accredited investors should review the applicable offering documents. Accredited investor status is determined by wealth and income thresholds under Rule 501(a) of Regulation D.
What is the Cardone Capital class action lawsuit about?
Investor Luis Pino sued Cardone Capital in 2020 alleging the firm misled investors about projected returns. The complaint, filed in 2020, alleges Cardone Capital made materially false and misleading statements about a 15% IRR and omitted material facts about how properties would be financed.
What returns are Cardone Capital investors actually getting?
Verified investor reports put actual distributions in the 3–4% range annually for many investors, compared to the 6% income figure marketed. Some investors report 5–6% cash-on-cash annually. Several funds reduced distributions amid floating-rate debt stress in 2022. Total return including appreciation depends on eventual property sales that have not yet occurred for most funds.
How liquid is a Cardone Capital investment?
Cardone Capital fund interests are illiquid. Cardone Capital fund interests are illiquid, and no secondary-market transaction is assured. Exit timing depends on when, and whether, the manager chooses to sell fund properties. Investors should review the applicable offering documents because exit timing and any redemption rights vary by fund. The distribution cuts in 2022 illustrate that even current income can be reduced by the manager without investor consent.
When do Cardone Capital investors receive their tax forms?
Multiple investor reviews note that Cardone Capital 1099 tax forms frequently arrive only at the end of March or the beginning of April. This delay can require investors to file for an extension, adding administrative friction compared to platforms that deliver tax documents earlier in the filing season.
Has the SEC investigated Cardone Capital?
The SEC sent a staff comment letter to Cardone Equity Fund V in July 2018 asking the fund to remove a projected 15% annualized return because it lacked evidentiary support.
What is the Cardone Capital bitcoin real estate fund?
In January 2025, Grant Cardone announced an $88 million fund that combines real estate and bitcoin. The fund uses rental property cash flow to dollar-cost average into bitcoin every month for four years, targeting a portfolio mix of approximately 30% bitcoin. This represents a material strategy shift away from pure multifamily real estate and introduces cryptocurrency volatility risk not present in earlier Cardone Capital funds.
Is Cardone Capital a scam?
Cardone Capital is a real estate fund manager that offers securities through SEC-filed or Regulation A offerings, and has paid distributions to investors. It is not a Ponzi scheme. However, the gap between marketed returns and investor-reported outcomes, the 2026-certified class action, and the prior SEC comment letter are material considerations. One independent forensic review rates Cardone Capital 2.0 out of 5 based on primary source documents. Prospective investors should read the full offering circulars on EDGAR and consult independent financial advice before committing capital. Investing in securities involves risks, including the complete loss of principal. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
What happened during Grant Cardone’s deposition in the class action?
In August 2026, Grant Cardone underwent a reported 12-hour deposition in connection with the securities class action. The lawsuit alleges he continued promoting a 15% annualized return on social media after the SEC questioned the basis for that figure in a 2018 comment letter. The jury trial is scheduled for March 9, 2027, and the outcome may affect investors in Cardone Equity Fund V and Fund VI.
New to passive real estate investing?
Explore Ark7 OpportunitiesInvesting in securities involves risks, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Offerings are facilitated through Dalmore Group LLC, a registered broker-dealer and FINRA/SIPC member. Neither Ark7 nor Dalmore provides investment advice.
