I like to think that the National Association of Mortgage Field Services (NAMFS) Regime wakes up around 0308EDT with a cold bead of sweat rolling down their collective faces as they spin up the Latest Updates from Foreclosurepedia — actually, the IP evidence tends to support this Machiavellian belief. The Property Baggage Potential Contractor Lien Database is starting to look like a Zombie Apocalypse. I digress.
Altisource, a subsidiary of Ocwen Financial, knew early on in the Buczek Enterprises crisis that there was a systemic problem. That problem, though, wasn’t just that Contractors were not being paid upon Altisource Properties. That problem struck at the very core of the Mortgage Field Services Industry. The larger and more ominous problem was how to both protect the innocent and not create a Bail Out for the transgressors.
Altisource is a different breed when it comes to the NAMFS Regime. What I mean by this is that as opposed to most of the people I have dealt with in the past: Safeguard Properties, Boyd Property Preservation, Berghorst Enterprises, et al., Altisource demonstrated a desire to not only address the issue of that which had not been paid, but also to address the causation.
Sources within Altisource, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that the cases of the original Contractors brought forward by Foreclosurepedia would be examined closely. If those cases had merit, outstanding amounts owed by Altisource to Buczek Enterprises would be paid directly to Contractors — Net 30 issues as Altisource pays generally in Net 30 terms.
One of the items which my Source stated was, “Why would a Contractor go months without being paid?” I stated that most of these Firms forced Contractors to do such by and through their Contracts. That is the irony: The Contract that people like Buczek Enterprises and their fellow NAMFS Regime Members perpetrate upon Contractors seems to be only valid when the NAMFS Regime Member is able to make a quick buck on it. In the financial sector, quarterly reports are required to prevent the very same fraud which has occurred under the Buczek Dynasty. Here is how it worked,
Contractor A was hired by Buczek Enterprises. The Contractor was then buried with work for 60 – 90 days and when that Contractor began to inquire as to the status of their pay, Buczek Enterprises continued to stall with terms such as, “Our Client hasn’t paid us yet.” This is a bold face lie with respect to the case of Altisource. There is no wiggle room here: Either Adam Buczek is a liar or he must publicly declare Altisource never paid him. Drilling down a bit, the question presents whether or not Buczek is going to resurrect in the same way which both Heather Berghorst and Carol Boyd have. Not on my watch!
Within the hiring of Contractor A, Buczek Enterprises began the working the Monte. Contractor A provided labor and material unbeknownst to s/he that they would never be paid. To spice the deal up a bit, Buczek Enterprises padded both the price of the work on the front end and the bids as well on the back end. They must have picked this up from the AIG Three Card Monte.
Let’s say Contractor A agreed to cut a lawn for $25. Buczek Enterprises was receiving FAR MORE for the grass cut than that. When a Contractor, though, arrived at an overgrown lawn and said that s/he would do it for X then Buczek Enterprises submitted the bid for Y. The even more devious portion of this was when the “back charging” began which allowed Buczek Enterprises to tell Contractor A they were not going to get paid because of a missing photo or an “i” not dotted or a “t” not crossed. Bear in mind, the work was performed; Buczek Enterprises simply engaged in creative reasons for not paying and on many occasions, the Client never back billed them.
When Contractor A became combative, they were “let go” and the Buczek Machinery began cranking into overdrive to recruit more Contractors to fill the shoes of Contractor A. It is on this point that I believe when the bankruptcy filings begin, the financials of Buczek Enterprises will show a chilling picture of precisely how bad it was. I submit that Buczek Enterprises was on fumes for the past year, at least. It was classic Ponzi in that the work of other Contractors was financing the payments to previous Contractors — at least those whom Buczek Enterprises chose to pay.
The final complication; the match in the pool of gasoline, was that Buczek Enterprises was being defrauded by other fellow NAMFS Regime Members. So, the combination of negative income position and a bank run which cut off the profit margins which might have allowed Buczek Enterprises to stay afloat, actually became the precipice for what history will now term the Foreclosurepedia 100 Hour War.
This is not unique; this is the norm in the Mortgage Field Services Industry. The reason that it has stayed off the radar for so long is based upon a misguided belief that the NAMFS Regime Members have a LEGAL RIGHT to force Contractors to Waive their Rights to Lien Properties. Time and again we have shown how that is illegal in almost all of the United States and this fear mongering is, in part, what the Buczek Enterprises Racket was depending upon.
My Source and I have spent several hours now on the phone and countless emails back and forth. No way that this Source is operating without the blessing of Top Tier C Level folks. That is why I believe that Altisource is committed to cleaning up a mess which, in all fairness, is not theirs. I believe they understand, as well, that self regulation vis-a-vis the Telco Industry’s nightmares, is a wise move. Additionally, the discussions we have had are candid; when I say candid I mean things which could make each other’s lives difficult. That is the key to strategic negotiation: Both sides must have something on the other lest either party get cold feet.
History will reflect upon Altisource’s maverick position and reward it, I believe. The reality is that I am dumbfounded when it comes to the NAMFS Regime. The NAMFS Regime Board of Directors have volumes of information on their Membership attesting to the fact of this identical issue. I mean how is it precisely that Eric Miller, NAMFS Regime Commandant, is capable of allowing Buczek Enterprises to remain in the NAMFS Regime? Oh, my bad. The money — it is always all about the money.
Altisource realizes that the nickle and dime bullshit in the property preservation side of the Real Estate Industry is not worth the eventual oversight by the Attorneys General of each and every state. Altisource also realizes the new landscape of the Mortgage Field Services Industry in that it really does not make a lot of sense to pad pockets whom are not even making payments to those whom are owed. It is a brave new world and both the Financial Institutions — whom are really lame ducks in the game — and the nouveau riche Portfolio Holders whom will become the New Generation of High Frequency Traders in the loan arena. The Portfolio Holders realize that the Financial Giants are dinosaurs; the era of modern banking has shifted gears and the New Players are going to maintain both the Seats at the Table and dictate those whom occupy them.
Buczek Enterprises was an Event Horizon on a larger oscilloscope. The new landscape of the Industry requires a different skill set of analysis. The 20th Century Business Intelligence apparatus is archaic and interdependent upon modalities no longer relevant. Simply studying the graphs are not enough anymore. People like Eric Miller whom tapped his pencil as Vice President over at Lender Processing Services — many remember my prediction of them leaving the Game along with Field Assets, Mortgage Contracting Services and Asset Management Specialists by and through merger — are beached whales in a technologically advanced world.
The ability to not only make salient determinations of supply versus demand; the ability to understand the complexity of legislation and its impact upon the Industry, these are somewhat purchasable for around 6 figures a year. The ability to predict fraud and cut costs inherent upon such and to be able to quell the riots: That is Priceless.
Altisource gets a B minus on the grading. It took a minute for them to even realize that the reports were accurate. The reality is that while I was told, “…you were 9 days ahead of us on this matter[,]” I was really almost EIGHT MONTHS ahead of the Altisource Intelligence Apparatus. In an era where SIGINT and ELINT are all the rave; in a time where wonks churn out report after report in Microsoft dependent spreadsheets and believe in the capacity of Aspen Grove Solutions to produce Clean Sheets, they have forgotten the Tradecraft. More on point, HUMIT, when coupled with OSINT is what gets the goods.
Altisource is probably about as close to the top of what I term Crisis Management, with their B minus, compared to most of the Firms I have quietly compiled ISTAR Database Files upon. This truly is a Brave New World. The reality is that while half a dozen federal agencies are circling like vultures, they are immaterial if a Firm properly evaluates their Internal Policies and then performs due diligence and stress tests upon those whom they Order Mill to. The ability to have OPLANs in place to immediately respond to issues is what separates the wheat from the chaff.
This isn’t the end of the Altisource story; this is merely the prologue. We will follow this for quite some time in an attempt to tell the tale as best we can without jeopardizing our Sources. We are hopeful that Altisource and others might find the significance of reaching out to Foreclosurepedia for a quiet consultation.
Make no mistake that if Foreclosurepedia did not take the honest names to the grave, Foreclosurepedia could not have become what it is today. Foreclosurepedia is the Last Line of Defense for both Contractors and Clients. The question that you need to ask at the next Board Meeting is not what we charge, but whether or not you can afford to be without our analysis.
We are hopeful that by the end of the week we will be able to communicate that some of the Contractors we went to bat for were able to pay their mortgages — ironically some were held by the same Firms whom Contractors worked for by and through Buczek Enterprises — and finally have a warm meal. While we will never quote them by name, it will stand as a testament that Altisource never has and never will turn its back upon the men and women of Labor!
