Foreclosurepedia now controls two of the listings on Page One of Google when you type in CRAIG KARNES. The reason for this is that for years, Craig Karnes, Housing and Urban Development‘s (HUD) Acting Deputy Chief Procurement Officer has done his best to stay out of the public eye. His Doctrine of the Slippery Slope has ensured that hundreds of millions of dollars have flowed through one of the most questionable contracts in the history of HUD called the Management and Marketing (M&M) contract. Broken down into both the Asset Manager (AM) and Field Service Manager (FSM) offerings, Karnes for nearly a decade had total and complete oversight over this black hole of funds. And his elves working over at the SF Housing Council of 13 ensured that Karnes was the Teflon Don of HUD. SF Housing is a circle jerk of #Epic proportions. A steady and constant maxim of Karnes’ Slippery Slope has been to pretend that HUD is taking fraud seriously. Here is a reply to him, shortly before he cut off all correspondence and has been working with the HUD FOIA Team to stonewall inquiries,
Yes, the pre and post-conveyance servicing is still considered a Conflict of Interest, and we’re dealing with it on several fronts, including both the current Bridge contractors and the new awardees. I can’t confirm specifics, but can say we are aware of possible issues with both that need to be mitigated.
Karnes and HUD have been aware of issues for well over a decade. And precisely how Karnes and HUD become satisfied that the smoke never becomes a fire escapes me other than to believe that a large number of non sequential bills are exchanging hands — probably 20’s and 50’s. Sometimes, it is never that simple, though. Takes the continued string of Acting appointments. These are all Plum Book items and yet Karnes year after year, after year, seems to get the appointments. Take the 6+ years now that the HUD M&M FSM has been carried over with over 90% of all Awards under one roof. Never, in the history of the HUD M&M FSM has this happened. In reality, Karnes probably would have had a great career in Hollywood.
HUD has always been characterized as an agency for the downtrodden and this emblematic light in the wilderness shining for minorities whom longed for homes of their own. The reality is that it has never been much more than a shill or token for the Plantation mentality to give the illusion of hope — ever fleeting and outside of the typical American’s grasp.
Tomorrow we begin to dig in deep about the Whistleblower’s lawsuit filed in which HUD attempted to derail at every step of the way. And when it was later discovered that Karnes, as then the Director of the HUD M&M had no idea about any of it — if true — established the very foundation of the corruption of HUD itself.
