Joe Badalamenti is a man whom has been around the block a time or two. Tom Kalas, his son-in-law and General Counsel for Five Brothers; Bada’s company, is one whom has been taken around the block a time or three. I would like to think that if Bada — the euphemistic name given to Badalamenti by others — had it to do over again, he would have arranged for a different marriage for his daughter. White collar, soft to the touch and dainty are probably not terms Bada wanted left as his legacy. More on point, though, getting raked over the coals for the potential for millions of dollars in False Claims Act violations is something that a well schooled lawyer would have avoided — hell, a first year law student would have had a better strategy for Bada than what Kalas put forward, as I see it.
I am loathe to lay the entire cesspool of shit at Bada’s feet; however, if he is truly a stand up Italian, he will shoulder the burden. The reality, though, is that in the same way that the name of Five Brothers was unoriginal, so to is the story of its corporate history.
A year and a half ago I received several hours of wire which was taped by a Source allowing a rare glimpse into the seedy world of the Mortgage Field Services Industry — I still possess these. These recordings laid out, at least to me, precisely how Kalas insulated Badalamenti from the day-to-day liabilities which have become commonly known as the Five Brothels. Those wire recordings were on the Foreclosurepedia YouTube Channel for quite some time until a handful of snot nosed lawyers — they reminded me of my perception of Kalas — decided to take an honest Plaintiff and feed him to the wolves. You see, the story of the allegations against US Bank and Five Brothers is far more than some two bit allegations; the story, which will ultimately roll out, pins what I see as clear violations of the Canons of Ethics and specifically violation of the Noble State of Pennsylvania’s own Rules of Professional Conduct in conjunction with malpractice,
As advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client’s position under the rules of the adversary system.
Over the years, National, Regional and Otherwise Unspecified Order Mills have ordered Contractors to perform services only to refuse to pay them based upon the spurious language of, “The [insert here HUD, FNMA, etc.] amended bid in compliance with [insert here RepairBase, My daughter is pregnant, or a multitude of other lies].” More on point, though, time and time again the US Taxpayer has footed the burden of the enrichment of Order Mills in a scheme which crosses state lines using electronic means and the US Postal Service.
While I empathize with the plight of Contractors getting fucked outright, the reality is that they have standing to file their own suits. What is on point, here, is that the US Taxpayer is getting fucked and anyone has the capacity to file claim upon behalf and in the capacity of the US Taxpayer.
One might ask whom these people are which I have determined to be the abomination of the judiciary; these lesser than human piles of moral turpitude. They are ambulance chasers from Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLP (SFMS). They joined forces with Duckworth Peters Lebowitz Olivier LLP (DPLO), to sell out both their Plaintiff and the US Taxpayers as I see it. You hacks don’t like my opinion? Feel that the First Amendment has no place in your nice world of your Volvos and private school for the kiddies? File suit! I guarantee you I will have a field day with Discovery! Make no mistake I have dealt with both of these Draconian Robber Barons. In fact, both firms are, even as I type, attempting to manifest bullshit lawsuits against the Mortgage Field Services Industry in what strikes me as an obscene and grotesque display of billing which would appear to be calculated only to line their coffers. The brazen disregard for their Clients, whom I have taken the time to speak with pertaining to several potential Class Action Suits focusing on the Employee vs Independent Contractor status have done nothing other than destroy Contractor’s careers, to date. Both law firms were contacted for comment; both law firms stood mute to quote a Defendant’s Plea.
Karen Lessor-Grenon, of SFMS and Monique Oliver of DPLO were the two I have had the displeasure of speaking to. While Olivier has been somewhat assistive in the past, it struck me that the information released was to bolster the potential for new litigation — quid quo pro. Lessor-Grenon made no attempt at even being human and simply wanted me to basically dump my intelligence with specificity to which lawyers I worked with and a basic Fuck You when I refused. Fuck them! Fuck them and their maximum billing hours — wow, almost like maximum allowable — feminine liberal agenda.
More on point, though, these ambulance chasers had the audacity to have third parties request that I take down First Amendment protected speech. Not having the balls — or ovaries — to reach out and speak to me directly, they used their appointed proxy; they used their OWN FUCKING CLIENT! I love that. Fuck someone else’s rights to ensure your billing has a chance to be submitted and claim only your fucking rights matter! Tragic, really. To know that your suit and tie only shields you in the courtroom. I mean how does one look at their children and hold their head high? Strike that as it is immaterial with these bottom feeders. Each and every day Counsel across the United States deal with murders, mobsters and terrorists and yet these people appear to be frightened of me. Must be something in that municipal water supply.
So, I obliged these ambulance chasers and removed several Foreclosurepedia YouTube videos. And how was that rewarded? By Deep Sixing any realistic chance of the criminality in this Industry from ever seeing the light of day.
I am far more upset with SFMS and DPLO than I am at Bada and his nimwit son-in-law. Bada & Co. are Offender Members of the notorious National Association of Mortgage Field Services (NAMFS) Regime, so people expect them to be in the courtrooms and newspapers defending against horrendous actions; people expect the same with respect to US Bank as the tallies for Bank Settlements now have crossed just north of TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS. Lawyers, even the ones I consider to be ambulance chasing vultures like SFMS and DPLO —they are such to me as they make their money off the backs of Plaintiffs — should have had the couth to protect their Client. This is the Wink and a Nod Program that Eric Holder is so famous for while performing his grotesque facial contortions during his Dog and Pony Show Press Conferences.
To date, neither DPLO nor SFMS can produce any meaningful statistics showing that they have assisted Clients in the Mortgage Field Services Industry other than in the Hurst v Buczek case. When you look at the Bennett Vinson debacle, make no mistake whatsoever that DPLO is rapidly approaching the six figure mark in billing — if I am wrong here, why not return some emails?! Oh, my fucking bad, I am not a bleeding heart liberal whom strangely loves to submit billing in order to live a nice lifestyle.
This contention is additionally backed up by a recent statement from a Source which I received yesterday,
I don’t know if you have been hearing anything significant about SG or not but something has changed. I have worked for them since I retired from the Army in [redacted], I can tell you the rules have changed since the red headed idiot took over. They have gotten out of control with charge backs and having us do work for free. There is a new Facebook group of SG contractors which was started. I am seeing post after post from contractors detailing charge backs in the 10 of thousands of dollars. Many of these charge backs are from seasoned contractors who have worked for SG for over 10 years. I am reading and talking to contractors who have worked for them longer then I have that are leaving because of SGs new attitude and measures of screwing the contractors. We are just a small mom and pop company. It is no longer fiscally responsible to work for SG any longer. Paul I do quality work and take pride in the work I do. It pisses me off when I see the quality of work in the field from these Craigslist hacks. [redacted]. What I see happening in the trenches is all the seasoned contractors are jumping ship, leaving gaps in coverage. This has made SG resort to hiring Craigslist Hacks who come in thinking they are going to be millionaires in a year. Properties are getting freeze damage and flood damage because of these hacks. These hacks quickly see it is a losing proposition working for SG and they quit, or they submit fraudulent bids doubling and sometimes tripling sqf of their bids which get approved. I have proof of this type of fraud in the form of emails I sent to my regional, with supporting documents (tax records). How you can have a 2500 sqf roof bid for a house which according to tax records is only 800 sqf. Every time I saw a fraudulent bid or work I sent an email. My regional told me to stop sending him emails. OSG LLC, were the prime violators. Their standard operating procedure I noticed is every house they entered behind me they would cut the lockbox and install a new sump pump. I don’t understand how homes which an inspector had no access issues every month for years all of the sudden when OSG was sent the lock box code didn’t work. I supplied pictures to the regional showing water shooting out of the old sump pump that OSG replaced. They started getting smarter and not leaving the old sump pumps in the property because I kept proving they were working. OSG just got into trouble and were fired by SG. I was told they had registered with SG with three different vendor codes. So, SG thought they had three different Vendors but it was the same. I was talking to my new Regional about them and that I had been informing Patrick Barr (old regional) about the stuff I was seeing in the field and that he told me not to worry about it. She said, “Yeah we have been on to OSG for awhile but have let them stay on because we didn’t have any other Vendors to help cover your Zone.” I wonder if there was some kind of pay off from OSG to Patrick Barr? I could go on with insurance claims fraud.
and …
I’m the retired MP in NY who talked to you on the phone (with my wife also on the line)about a month ago about a HUD reconvey/Safeguard chargeback. Anyway, [y]ou mentioned 5 Brothers on your last Podcast and it made me remember something you might find interesting or at least humorous. I used to work for 5 Brothers until I started seeing their unethical practices. I was actually at the 2012 SG Conference and got a call from my 5 Brothers NY regional (Forget her name now). I had submitted a bid on a property about a week earlier. She asked me if I could submit a “True Bid”? I was not familiar with that term and had been working in the industry for the past 5 years. I asked her to explain. She said can you make up a company name and address and submit a bid at a higher amount then your initial bid. The bank wants us to provide two bids and I don’t have anyone else in the area who can provide a bid. I was absolutely blown away. I wish I had recorded the conversation. Naturally I refused and told her I didn’t feel comfortable doing that.
My belief is that SFMS sells out to be able to capitalize on bargaining leverage down the road on their deodorant and shampoo type cases. DPLO? Well, they are content beating dead horses into the ground like the Bennett Vinson – Field Asset Services suit I reported upon along with the FAS Class Action which has given stall a new meaning — or maybe that is how one racks up the billing?! Funny, as both SFMS and DPLO both have their collective hands in the same cookie jars in virtually all of the Mortgage Field Services Industry cases. The reality, though, is that the only novel suit to come out of any of this bullshit was the Hurst v Buczek case back in 2010.
Now, the DPLO – SFMS Roadshow is going to come to a town near you soon. I am rarely, if ever, wrong in my opinions. This is one of the reasons people like they and others are terrified of me. I speak the truth; not the truth you get over in the Drive By Social Media, the Truth that keeps you out of a world of hurt.
Through Foreclosurepedia’s investigations, I have come to the belief that both DPLO and SFMS have conducted superficial investigations, at best, with respect to the Mortgage Field Services Industry. To the extent that the US Government has investigated any claims, let me relate precisely what I was told about the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) position vis-a-vis claims of fraud,
The HUD Investigator appointed to review material first and foremost did not even know that there were only a handful of keys which opened all HUD Properties in the United States and its Territories. With respect to the position of fraud, the HUDs position was that it acknowledged there was fraud and that they did not care.
It is funny how we turn a blind eye to criminal activity when it furthers our own agenda. Lawyers, Banksters and the US Government do it daily, but get all fucking offended when they are called on the carpet about it. DPLO and SFMS both attempt to pretend how they are all Holier Than Thou and yet want Contractors to remain in the trenches so that the lawyers do not dirty their dainty hands.
I want to be very clear that I fear neither god nor man. I do what I do because someone must speak up. Change and growth are both inherently painful processes. You can sue me; you can lock me up; you can kill me — Regardless, change is coming.
The below video sums up nicely how I truly perceive this entire mess that we are dealing with in respect to the how the Industry is currently being run. If you would like more information on precisely how all of these lawyers operate simply go to Saul Goodman’s Website or call 505-503-4455 — Yes, it is a real and working number!
