The City of St. Louis is taking action against a real estate company that uses a “Slow Flip” business model the city that some have characterized as predatory.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday, is against Bustling Funding, a Missouri company that sells houses on a contract-for-deed basis, meaning it retains title to the property while the buyer takes physical possession and assumes responsibility for maintenance and repairs—paying for them out of pocket while making installment payments to Bustling Funding.
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The city’s lawsuit says this arrangement represents a “trap for unwary buyers.” It alleges that if a buyer misses a payment, makes a late payment or fails to perform required maintenance or repairs, Bustling Funding typically sues to retake possession of the property. If the buyer loses possession, they also lose any money they’ve paid in installments, as well as the value of improvements they’ve made to the home.
“The Slow Flip strategy is built upon the assumption that almost all buyers will default, that they will never receive title to the properties, and that sellers, such as Defendant Bustling Funding, LLC, will profit from the amounts paid prior to such defaults,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit does not specify how many city properties are involved, though it alleges Bustling Funding has entered into contracts for “dozens” of properties, the large majority of them in north St. Louis.
City Assessor Shawn Ordway told SLM that in 2025 there were 48 parcels in the city owned by Bustling Funding. But none are owned under that name today.
However, despite detailing the company’s business practices at length, the city is not seeking to outlaw the Slow Flip model itself. Instead, the lawsuit centers on Bustling Funding’s alleged failure to comply with a city ordinance requiring occupancy permits before people move into homes. The city alleges the company allowed buyers to take possession of properties without first obtaining those permits.
The city is asking a judge to declare that Bustling Funding must obtain occupancy permits for properties sold through these contract-for-deed arrangements and to issue an injunction requiring the company to comply going forward.
Bustling Funding was incorporated in 2023 with noted local evictions attorney Matt Chase as its registered agent. The other name on the LLC’s filings with the Secretary of State’s Office is Joey Chianese of Virginia.
Neither Chase nor Chianese responded to a request for comment.
Someone seems to have set up an entire website about Chianese featuring local Virginia media coverage about him. Text at the top of the site’s land page reads, “Home Buyer Beware.”
Chianese’s operation was also the subject of a December piece in the Post-Dispatch by Jacob Barker, which reported that LLCs associated with Chianese owned 150 properties in the area, mostly in North City and North County.
On Monday, KMOV’s Lauren Trager also reported on the Slow Flip business model being practiced locally. That story focused on the company Ann Star Homes, whose attorney was also Chase.
