Several weeks ago, Alan Bunker, Spectrum Field Services CEO and founder, made a decision which many in the Mortgage Field Services Industry have made over the past year. That decision was to solidify Spectrum’s market share with both Investors and Chronos Solutions. Until recently, Spectrum had flown under the radar. After months of dealing with the Wells Fargo target approach of crash and burn dynamics, which focused upon Assurant Field Asset Services and the Inspection side of the Industry, Spectrum has finally begun to come out of their slump. And to Spectrum’s credit, they came out of the Assurant quagmire far better than many others. All in all, Wells Fargo was centrally responsible for causing a domino effect of catastrophic proportions when it came to non payment issues. Many National Association of Mortgage Field Services (NAMFS) members and non members simply allowed Labor to take the hit. Most telling about Spectrum was the simple and salient fact that Bunker dealt with the issue personally with each and every contractor.
While most of the Contractors whom had not been paid have been caught up to speed, Bunker is still working with some remaining outstanding accounts. To that point, I have heard nothing negative from any of the parties and that is actually a positive in my world. And since we are talking about yet another NAMFS member restructuring, I think it is fair to say that consolidation is the new norm, as I have predicated, over the past several years.
To date, most of these mergers have occurred much like a Tennessee Shotgun Wedding in that the choice presented has been merger or bankruptcy. The Northsight Management whirlwind of purchases of firms, with the largest being ASONS Construction, founded by Milan Thompson, based out of Muncie, Indiana. With respect to Spectrum, though, I believe that this merger has a more positive side to the equation, perhaps, than others. Both Spectrum and Chronos Solutions are on good footing with each bringing an equitable stake to the table. Ultimately, I am cautiously optimistic that the end result will be amicable for Labor.
To say that NAMFS is in a world of shit is an understatement. Inspection firms like NAMFS Board Member, Michael Evangelo’s National Mortgage Field Service (NMFS) which was recently proven to harbor countless images of women and children is the new norm for a once prestigious trade association. Eric Miller, NAMFS Executive Director, receives an annual salary of over $120,000 per year which consumes nearly NINETY PERCENT of all NAMFS member dues in light of NAMFS membership attrition over the past year.
Here is what Spectrum rolled out to Minority Females and Labor, last week,
We are pleased to announce important changes at Spectrum that will be occurring over the next few months. After more than 30 years in this business, it is time to begin the process of ensuring a smooth transition to a new generation. Accordingly, I have sold my interest in the field services part of our business to an investor group (Spectrum Solutions Acquisitions, LLC), and over the next few months you will see us transition to the new company. For example, in coming days or weeks your weekly checks will begin to come from the new entity.
I will continue to be involved with the company for some time, but the day-to-day management of the company will be under the direction of my daughter, Melissa, who many of you know. Missi is a 25-year veteran of the field services industry. Additionally, you will continue to work with the same people at Spectrum that you have in the past.
This transaction with Spectrum Solutions Acquisitions will affect only the traditional field services part of our business (e.g., residential inspections and property preservation & maintenance). We do not expect to see any changes with our Specialty Inspections Division, which will continue to operate as Spectrum Field Services, Inc.
One of the most exciting aspects of this transition is our effort to simultaneously construct a close relationship with Chronos Solutions, LLC., an industry leader in providing products and services essential to the entire mortgage lifecycle. Chronos is the true one-stop shop for the mortgage servicing industry. As such, two important service offerings consumed by Chronos are residential inspections and property preservation & maintenance work. Because of the large volumes of work available through this “partner” relationship, our affiliation with Chronos will be important to you because of the significant opportunity for growth for our vendors in the field. In fact, many of our preservation vendors have already been the beneficiaries of high volumes of work made available through Chronos over the past several months. Chronos has become one of our largest clients.
Given all of the displacement in the field services industry right now, we believe that partnering with Chronos is the best possible way to mitigate that unrest—at least for Spectrum vendors. Both Chronos and Spectrum working together will provide client opportunities not otherwise available to either company on its own.
Please let us know if you have questions about our transition or our anticipated affiliation with Chronos, and how it might affect our work with you. As always, we express our thanks to each of our inspection and preservation vendors. We truly value our relationship and greatly appreciate your diligence and efforts to provide exceptional services. We look forward to the continuation of that relationship.
Matt Martin’s Chronos Solutions was behind the purchase, in part, contributing substantially to a consortium of investors whom came together to form a holding company created specifically for the purchase, according to sources speaking on condition of anonymity. Spectrum Solutions Acquisitions LLC is a firm created in Delaware only a few months ago, in December, 2017.
It certainly may not bode well for Minority Females and Labor. While Spectrum has recently acquired a footing with Chronos Solutions, the fact of the matter is that pricing is going to drop and that comes directly from a source speaking on condition of anonymity whom would have a need to know.
The impression I got, though, was this was the best situation for an all around bad environment. Change is rarely, if ever, good for the men and women forced to implement it at ground level. My source didn’t sugarcoat things and you know what, that is a good thing. And it wasn’t all doom and gloom. The Bunker family will continue to be a moving force as the reorganization continues. And that is a good thing. Sources close to the Bunkers have reaffirmed their distaste for the recent and prolific fraud which unfortunately happened with respect to National Field Network and well as the National Real Estate Solutions (NRES) fraud, overseen by owner Brian Mingham, Thousand Oaks, California. And with respect to Chronos Solutions, I have never spoken badly about their model at least with respect to how it applies to Industry dominance. And Matt Martin isn’t the kind of guy whom has ever come in and half assed a merger. His foresight dealing with how the Mortgage Field Services Industry is migrating to a Single Source Originator (SSO) is where we will be in 18 months or less and Foreclosurepedia has predicted it for over two years now.
Alan Bunker is a wise man whom has been around the block. On the one hand, I would like to unload on him and paint the picture that all the ills facing Minority Females and Labor are his fault. To a point, it is somewhat true. Bunker and his colleagues at NAMFS could have put their collective feet down and said no more fraud, but they didn’t. Bunker could have also sold off and said to hell with Labor and cashed in and walked. He didn’t do that, either.
Long haul. And here is the reality: There are going to be pricing fluctuations. And until the volumes begin to rise, the fact of the matter is that everyone is at the mercy of those with capital. To that point, Foreclosurepedia has been speaking with many Industry professionals with respect to where the money is. And time and again, we are told that nearly 80% of contractors are leaving money on the table when they bid out the properties. In conjunction with several investors, Foreclosurepedia is proud to announce that the International Association of Field Service Technicians (IAFST) will be setting up a permanent facility outside of Indianapolis in the coming months. This facility will be used to both physically train as well as have a comprehensive on line educational platform to train personnel. We will dig deeper into this in the coming days, but let me emphasize one thing: If you obtain certification credentials, all of those Regional firms we spoke with are committed to reducing the percentage of discounting they require.
Matt Martin has been a driving force when in comes to consolidating portfolios and leveraging data analysis with respect to identifying trends. When it comes to betting on horses coming in to place and finish over the next 18 months of continued Industry consolidation, my money is on Chronos Solutions over Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS) without a doubt. What remains to be seen is whether or not Martin’s continued acrimony towards local, boots on the ground, Labor will continue.
In closing, I feel more reassured after researching and reviewing the situation at Spectrum. And the reality is that if you are working with Spectrum, you are working direct. When we look, across the board, at how many new and unknown, fly-by-night order mills whom have flooded in to take the place of National Field Network (NFN) it is terrifying. Moreover, though, when we look at the abject failure which Eric Miller has been with respect to fraudulent and criminal activity pushed out by his NAMFS Offender Members, the reality is that Spectrum is a good, long haul bet.
