Like fleas on a dog that spread prolifically, antitrust has has been a problem in our Industry for years. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently had a chance to address it in the consolidation of software and price hikes from Verisk whom now control PPW, Pruvan, and the bid platforms used. In addition, HUD also had several unsolicited proposals submitted in accordance with FAR 15.6 attempting to address the matter. And whether or not HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge bowed to the lobbying efforts of Verisk or HUD simply has too much power and control centralized with the SF Housing Committee, the Industry is paying the price. It clearly was on their collective radars as was recently discussed by HUD’s Assistant Chief Procurement Officer for Field Operations, Craig Karnes, whom exclusively stated to Foreclosurepedia,
I don’t know that it would move into the Anti-Trust space yet, but it does certainly appear to be headed in that direction. The price hikes as they gobble up the competition would certainly help lay the groundwork for an Anti-Trust case. Either way, it does certainly raise certain security concerns. I know that it’s at least on HUD’s radar, as it came up in an internal meeting I was in a couple weeks back where concerns were raised.
To that point, in October 2020, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a landmark antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of violating Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act by engaging in anticompetitive practices to maintain its monopoly power in the search and search advertising markets. The lawsuit, which has been joined by eleven states, alleges that Google has used a variety of exclusionary tactics to stifle competition, including:
Exclusive agreements with device makers and carriers: Google allegedly pays billions of dollars to device makers and carriers to make Google Search the default or exclusive search engine on their devices. This practice makes it difficult for competing search engines to gain traction, as consumers are less likely to use a search engine that is not pre-installed on their devices.
Disfavoring competing search engines in search results: The DOJ alleges that Google manipulates its search results to favor its own products and services over those of its competitors. For example, Google may rank its own websites higher in search results or display more ads from its own advertising platform;
Anti-competitive agreements with competitors: Google has allegedly entered into agreements with its competitors that prevent them from bidding on certain keywords or advertising placements. This limits the competition for advertising dollars, which allows Google to charge higher prices for its advertising services; and
Acquiring competing businesses: Google has acquired a number of competing businesses in the search and advertising markets, such as DoubleClick and AdMob. These acquisitions have further consolidated Google’s market power and made it more difficult for new entrants to compete.
The DOJ’s lawsuit argues that Google’s anticompetitive practices have harmed consumers by reducing competition, innovation, and choice. As a result, consumers are forced to pay higher prices for advertising and are less likely to see innovative new search products and services. The DOJ is seeking a variety of remedies, including requiring Google to change its business practices, divesting certain assets, and opening up its advertising platform to competitors.
This reads like a roadmap for the activities ongoing over at Littlejohn & Co.’s MCS and GIS Field Services. And when you add into the equation the fact that Chestnut Hill Partners, whom brokered the purchase of GIS Field Services on behalf of Littlejohn and then, after Foreclosurepedia submitted a media inquiry took the the publication of the event down, it really begins to arch the eyes. And to be completely candid, I am smelling implications of the Clayton Act afoot. The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 is a United States federal antitrust law that was enacted to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The Clayton Act was passed in response to concerns that the Sherman Act was too broad and did not adequately address specific anticompetitive practices.
The Clayton Act prohibits a number of specific business practices, including:
Price discrimination: The Clayton Act prohibits charging different prices to different customers for the same product or service, unless the price difference is justified by a cost difference or is done to meet competition;
Tying arrangements: The Clayton Act prohibits tying the sale of one product or service to the purchase of another product or service. For example, a company could not require customers to purchase its word processor in order to purchase its operating system;
Exclusive dealing agreements: The Clayton Act prohibits exclusive dealing agreements that prevent a company from dealing with other companies. For example, a company could not enter into an exclusive agreement with a retailer that prevents the retailer from selling any other company’s products;
Interlocking directorates: The Clayton Act prohibits certain interlocking directorates, which are situations where a person serves on the boards of directors of two or more competing companies. This prohibition is designed to prevent conflicts of interest; and
Mergers and acquisitions: The Clayton Act prohibits mergers and acquisitions that would substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly.
And whether or not Littlejohn wants to talk about it or not, Foreclosurepedia has re-opened The Dojo — 道場 — to bring up and entirely new generation of Labor whom are mad as hell about getting the shaft. Look, everyone remembers the massive data breach which released the names, addresses, phone numbers, and drivers license data of Contractors and Realtors and complete asset reports which AFAS spewed across the Internet both domestically and to our foreign adversaries alike. We discussed the matter in a previous article here. Building on that, the weeks long crash of the MCS website and software is another well known story and they paid a heavy price when it came to its Creditors. In fact, during COVID, MCS had over $480 Million of bank debt and credit facilities downgraded to a Junk Rating which eventually led to their final default, sometime later, and would lead to the purchase of ASP MCS Acquisition Corp. whose parent was American Securities LLC by Littlejohn. It was the classic pump and dump scheme whose beginnings came from the ill fated purchase of Asset Management Specialists (ASP).
Why is all of this important? Glad you asked! If you run some basic searches throughout Foreclosurepedia you can paint your own picture of AMS MCS Subholdings and go forward and see the same liability hungry schemes Littlejohn is applying. And where MCS never overcame Foreclosurepedia’s battle to prevent their takeover of the HUD M&M FSM contracts, so too will Littlejohn soon come to realize their ill advised war picked with Minority Females and Labor.
The Dojo is open and Neo is waiving the Agents forward, ladies and gentlemen. Come one, come all, but remember this is a mess of NAMFS own creation. And the problem — there are always problems with these hacks — is that they cannot take out their own trash today. The irony with this war is that Labor has nothing, really to lose. In fact, not much difference between $3.50 and the $5.00 that middlemen and women are so proud of paying. Management has the most to lose. Labor can simply go to another company or file unemployment claims — yup and they are being won in the Northeast right now. Or Labor could simply double down and wait out the holiday season with a side job at Amazon or some of the firms I work with whom do display inspections and set ups at Lowes, Home Depot, or any of 10,000+ retailer firms whom utilize the services of those I work with.
And the ultimate question is as this is a mess of NAMFS own making, what will be done in the end? I mean why should I not just let many of you drown in their own misery? They put a crown on Miller’s head and bowed down to him with knee pads on. They elevated their own Dietz to lord over themselves and rub shoulders with on their own NAMFS Board. I mean the similarities to Marvel Comics here is astounding. Time will tell.
