On Tuesday the President and the Vice President opened a $25 million Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program. Go to https://america.gov/fraud and file your complaint today. The Justice Department runs it. Make sure you have the names of the companies, which in most cases is 24 Asset Management, the vendor managers, staff, everyone you contacted or spoke with via phone or email, your amounts owed and work order numbers, and FILE TODAY! Stealing money on federal contracts such as the HUD M&M FSM is not right. Nor is HUD proposing never to pay Labor and simply short list a company like A2Z Field Services which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy as the solution.
The President described it as a 1 percent commission with “no limit,” and said journalists can take part. He also said he will personally decide who gets paid when more than one person claims the same tip.
Foreclosurepedia is not deciding what is fraud. That call belongs to the White House, and the door is now open. What Foreclosurepedia can do is put HUD’s own words in front of Labor before anyone files. The President was quite clear that “…the money will be paid out “if we recover the money” rather than if criminal charges are brought.” We already know that monies have been collected by HUD against 24 Asset Management, so this seems to be a slam dunk. Reread that and FILE TODAY!
What HUD Wrote
HUD’s Justification and Approval 26-30 explains why the agency will not exercise the next option on its current Field Service Management contracts. HUD cites “key vendors suspending operations because of outstanding client invoices, lack of property preservation and maintenance triggering property liens and blocking the marketing or sale of homes, and non-payments escalated to Congressional inquiries, putting the Agency’s reputation and funding at risk.”
Read that again. A federal agency signed a document saying that non-payment to vendors on its own contracts put its funding at risk. It did not write that as a theory. It wrote it as the reason.
The justification does not name a contractor. It does not name a dollar amount. The tie to 24 Asset Management comes from Foreclosurepedia’s reporting on the six vehicles HUD awarded that company and the Field Service Technicians and Inspectors left unpaid on them, which by Foreclosurepedia’s tally stands at no less than $353,679.50.
Four Signatures
Paul M. Olin certified the justification as accurate and complete. Contracting Officer Charles W. Hoyle Jr. certified it. Acting Deputy Chief Procurement Officer Amber Jones signed it. Chief Procurement Officer Francine L. Hemphill approved it.
Four officials put their names under a document that admits the problem. Secretary Scott Turner runs the department that produced it. Nobody on that signature page wrote down what happens to the vendors who were not paid.
Craig Karnes, a senior HUD official along with Sharon Washington and LaShura Ford, both working at HUD, have been in the loop for months. I would cite that in the filing so that the information might be more readily found in the searches conducted.
Uniquely Capable
The same document names Alpine Companies, P.K. Management Group and A2Z Field Services as “uniquely capable” of running the replacement work. It prices eight areas at $170,829,743.00. Alpine holds awards for three, and the other five carry $117,886,987.00 with no awardee Foreclosurepedia has seen.
A2Z is a Chapter 11 debtor in the Southern District of Ohio. HUD wrote that non-payment endangers its funding, then put a debtor on the list to take over the work.
The Old Work Keeps Running
HUD also wrote that the incumbents “will continue performance for option 2 in the eight contract areas through February 15, 2027, and option 3 will not be exercised.”
So Field Service Technicians and Inspectors keep working on contracts that HUD itself has written up as a reputation and funding risk. Foreclosurepedia has sent reports listing 24 Asset Management’s victims to Craig Karnes, acting deputy director of all HUD procurement, for years. HUD will not discuss the debt.
What Labor Does Now
File at https://america.gov/fraud and describe what happened in plain words, name the HUD-funded work, and let the White House decide what it is.
Document every unpaid work order by property, service, date and amount. Keep your invoices, completion photos, texts and emails. Keep your 1099 and compare it to your bank deposits.
Quote HUD’s own sentence in your filing. The agency has already said what non-payment does to its contracts.
File with the HUD Office of Inspector General as well. Then call your Representative and your Senator. Reach out directly to your local media providers such as newspaper and tv. HUD wrote that Congressional inquiries over non-payment hurt its reputation.
HUD wrote it down. The vendors are still waiting. The program is open.
