An Austin podcast host who promised investors fixed returns of up to 14 percent tied to mobile-home assets has agreed to pay more than $9.7 million to settle federal fraud charges after regulators say his company never actually bought a single manufactured home. Mike Ayala, host of the Investing for Freedom podcast and CEO of Wavemark Capital, reached a proposed settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission that still requires approval from a federal judge in Austin.
The SEC formally filed its civil enforcement action against Ayala and Wavemark Capital on September 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, according to SEC.gov. Under the proposed consent settlement, Ayala and Wavemark agreed to pay approximately $8.8 million in disgorgement plus interest, while Ayala personally agreed to pay a $236,451 civil penalty. The deal still needs sign-off from U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman before it becomes final.
As reported by the Austin American-Statesman, the SEC's federal complaint alleges Ayala duped roughly 100 investors across at least five states. Wavemark Capital and Ayala also agreed, as part of the settlement, not to sell securities again, and Ayala has not admitted wrongdoing. He did not respond to requests for comment from the newspaper.
Millions Raised, Zero Homes Purchased
According to the SEC complaint, Wavemark Capital raised money for the Wavemark Income Fund, LLC by offering promissory notes requiring a minimum investment of $50,000 per person between October 2021 and February 2025. The notes promised fixed annualized returns of 12 to 14 percent, supposedly backed by manufactured home assets. Ayala allegedly told investors their funds would be used to buy mobile homes for placement in mobile-home parks, and that investor loans carried first-lien agreements on those homes — a claim the SEC says was false.
Federal investigators found that Wavemark diverted approximately $8.7 million of the roughly $9.6 million raised to cover debts and operational expenses tied to Ayala's other affiliate entities, according to reporting by Hannah Howell NewsDesk. Only $795,485 was funneled back to earlier investors as Ponzi-style distribution payments. The Wavemark Income Fund had no purchased assets and no actual returns to show for the capital it collected, and investor funds remained under Ayala's sole authority throughout.
The SEC has said investors lost the majority of their investment. Wavemark also used investor money to cover payroll and other operational expenses for Ayala's other businesses rather than acquiring the manufactured homes it advertised.
A Company That Kept Raising Money After Dissolving
Wavemark Capital, a Wyoming company, was administratively dissolved in December 2023 — yet the company continued taking investor money for another 14 months, through February 2025, per the same account from Hannah Howell NewsDesk. Ayala reportedly struggled to make investor payments as early as January 2024, and one investor identified as steve20000 said on Reddit that investors had been told for three months that distributions would arrive within a week or two.
The SEC has charged Ayala and Wavemark with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, along with Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 — federal statutory anti-fraud provisions. Section 17(a)(2) and (3) can be established by negligence.
Marketing Push Targeted Accredited Investors on Social Media
Wavemark solicited investors through paid advertising on Meta platforms, running sponsored posts on Instagram and Facebook that advertised a “28% TOTAL RETURN ON A 2 YEAR NOTE” aimed at accredited investors, according to the Barry Minkow Substack. The ads reportedly featured photos of manufactured homes to project commercial credibility.
Separately from the SEC action, the Wavemark Income Fund was also sued in civil lawsuits in state district court. A court entered a $55,000 default judgment against Wavemark and found for plaintiffs on breach-of-contract and fraud claims in another case, entering a $140,000 judgment for breach of contract, per the Austin American-Statesman.
A Pattern Predating Wavemark
Before founding Wavemark, Ayala operated Four Peaks Capital Partners to syndicate mobile-home park acquisitions. According to users on Reddit, investors in that venture similarly reported defaulted distributions, a lack of communication, and unremitted municipal water utility bills exceeding $100,000 across multiple parks, with several water providers reportedly threatening receivership over the unpaid bills. Four Peaks Capital Partners had been formed to offer private investment opportunities to qualified investors, according to those same accounts, but its website — like Wavemark's — is now disabled. Ayala's podcast and YouTube channel have not been updated in more than a year.
