Like a John le Carré novel playing out in real time, the absorption of the hard earned Labor from Order Mills is now underway in full earnest. For years, I have cautioned the Industry about the final gambit and it is here now, playing out in front of everyone. In reality, though, it is long overdue. In the short term, there will be a lot of pain; however, in the long term, it will focus direct work to Labor. Now, the National Association of Mortgage Field Services (NAMFS) has led everyone to believe that there is nothing to see here. They are mistaken and their current membership volume, below one hundred, explains the situation. Why is this important? Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS) — I refuse to use their bullshit, cleaned up name — is predominately an employee based entity. In fact, over the past several years, with the backing of Littlejohn & Co., MCS has been on a large scale buying spree of employee based firms.
Take, for example, the recent awards away from MCS to two Prime Vendors whom have no idea how to get the orders out of the funnel. First, both of those firms have a Labor issue and one, in particular, is on my radar for selling off the bids.
Of greater importance, though, is the network of self-performing Service Centers with the latest one opened in Memphis, TN, a couple of weeks ago. Here is a quote from the MCS Press Release,
MCS now has “boots-on-the-ground” representation in 25 markets across the country, plus an extensive network of 30,000 third-party service partners to address property maintenance requests for its growing client base. The new Tennessee Service Center provides field services for MCS’s regional Single-Family Rental (SFR) clients as well as its Commercial and Mortgage business lines.
The obvious use of the term boots on the ground stands as a slap in the face to Eric Miller, NAMFS Executive Director, whom forbade the term which I coined some years ago with Bret Douglas. And it is definitive in precisely what direction the largest, institutionally based syndicate is heading. Here, take a look at their map below,
That image needs to sink deeply into the minds not only of Labor, but the soon to be financially insolvent Regionals remaining. Here are some mathematically proven facts. First, the HUD M&M FSM contract has less than a couple of hundred assets. In fact, if the contract was not being subsidized by the FHA insurance policy itself, it would be impossible to service them. Second, the combined totals of tens of millions of dollars in COVID EIDL loans taken out by the Regional NAMFS members in combination with the hundreds of millions of dollars in senior and secured loans outstanding — including debt owed to Labor with nearly One Million dollars still owed by 24 Asset Management vis-à-vis Assero — paints a very graphic picture of those few firms whom will financially survive this year.
As the MCS Cartel continue to concentrate their efforts on W2 personnel, it is a blessing in disguise, for Labor. I have always stood by my position that there is not a singe Field Service Technician nor Inspector whom was not a misclassified employee. Multiple lawsuits have proven the point, including a multi-million dollar settlement against MCS. What MCS was not planning on, though, was the potential of unionization.
Common sense has never been a strong suit of the Industry. Through both overt and covert means, people like Eric Miller, Caroline Reeves, Robert Klein, Bryan Lysikowski, and Matt Zoldowski have done their best to keep Labor suppressed and regulation out of the Industry. Beginning with the now collapsed Aspen Grove Solutions and the failed background check program that hijacked hundreds of thousands of contractor’s points of personally identifiable information and ending with dozens of hacks which stole the same type of data, it is a wholly insecure infrastructure that the feds will soon begin investigating. Most recently, the MCS hack only a couple of weeks old, forced an untold amount of people, going all the way back to 2014, to scramble to protect their credit.
With both Cyprexx and National Field Representatives praying to whatever gods they believe in for a sale in the coming months, it will not matter. We have reached the conclusion that we are beyond the bell shaped curve of a W2 conversion ratio. Whether or not NAMFS or the International Association of Field Service Technicians (IAFST) have come to this conclusion or not, is immaterial.
With the latest compiling of nearly 100,000 former and current Contractors in the Industry, in combination with artificial intelligence, we believe that Foreclosurepedia is now uniquely positioned to leverage the data in order to bring a new North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for the Industry; CTDL based digitally accredited education; and clean up the remaining Regional Order Mills including their corrupt Vendor Managers. I want to be extremely clear on that last point so that those whom I deal with understand. And in the coming weeks, they will come to better understand the fact that artificial intelligence is accessible by all whom understand it. It is simply those whom deploy it, for financial gains only, that do not understand its value.
