Garrett started and ran a cleaning business in Texas. In 1945, the family moved to California where Garrett started another cleaning business and a wastepaper collection business. When Garrett wanted to buy an apartment building in a white neighborhood in
Los Angeles, he worked out a deal with the owner, Mr. Barker, who, along with a bank, lent Garrett money to renovate the apartment units. Garrett was successful in renting the units to black residents and in paying back the loans. He and Barker formed a partnership investing in real estate. By 1954, Garrett was worth $1.5 million. Joe and his wife Cora became friends with Linda and Bernard. Together they bought the Bankers Building, the
tallest building in Los Angeles. They succeeded by having light- or white-skinned associates, most significantly Linda, whose skin was very fair, pose as the faces of their empire, appearing to run their operations while, in fact, Garrett and Morris were the owners and actual operators of the properties. Morris and Garrett went on to purchase multiple banks and
savings & loans, in Texas. They acquired their first bank in Texas in 1964, going on to buy an additional four banks and savings & loans. A racist Democratic power base eventually found a way to stop the Garretts' growing banking control of white banks in Texas. Senator
John L. McClellan from Arkansas brought Garrett before the Senate Investigations Committee in 1965 in part because of the collapse and insolvency of The First National Bank of Marlin in Texas, which they controlled. The Garretts hired lawyers
Melvin Belli—who had defended
Jack Ruby—and
Joe Tonahill to defend him. == Personal life ==