Ron Barness, former owner of Retail Brokers Inc (RBI) and Barness Papas Investments, LLC has been cleared of claims against him in regards to his commercial real estate investments. In Phoenix, a number of cases were brought against Barness by investors who lost significant amounts of money when the real estate market crashed. Barness was essentially an easy target, and the lawsuits that were brought against him tarnished his reputation and made him lose everything he had earned in his nearly 30 years in the industry.
Now that most of the lawsuits have been dismissed in Maricopa County Superior Court, Barness is focusing on picking up the pieces and re-building the business he was forced to give up. His new company has just one employee: himself. Many of his former investors still trust Barness with their money, believing he was simply a scapegoat for a crashing real estate market and disgruntled investors.
