Jonnie Rumbaugh, Co Owner and President of York Jersey Insurance, just cannot seem to get enough Eric Miller in his life. Eric Miller is the Executive Director of the National Association of Mortgage Field Services (NAMFS). In 2013, Foreclosurepedia brought to the attention of then Executive Vice President Rumbaugh, the problem Foreclosurepedia had with having to pay a tax to an insurance company which appeared to be on the behalf of NAMFS. Rumbaugh removed the language from the application at that time. Imagine my surprise when researching rebatting (discounting or referral fees paid) in the Insurance Industry — a crime by the way — and found that York Jersey Insurance had never removed the form from their website!
As of 12 November 2018, that form remains live on the York Jersey website at the web address in the screenshot. Curious, we reached out to Rumbaugh for comment. Initially, he denied the existence of the form. When Foreclosurepedia sent not only the screenshot, but the live web address as well, he replied,
This is the link to the current application on our website:
www.york-jersey.com/mortgage_form.html
The application # 2 that you reference hasn’t been in use for years. — Jonnie Rumbaugh
There is a part of me that would love to embrace Rumbaugh’s statement. There is a part of me that would like to believe that mistakes are made and nothing is part of a larger conspiracy calculated to unjustly enrich NAMFS members. I have to reflect, though, upon not only my first engagement with York Jersey in 2013, but also the most recent iteration of Rumbaugh being hired as a Consultant to National Field Representatives (NFR). In that capacity, Rumbaugh is demanding that independent contractors obtain workmans compensation on themselves and any independent contractors they may employ. This is obviously an attempt to shield NFR from their employee misclassification liability as well as an attempt to create a separate revenue stream for York Jersey, of which Rumbaugh directly profits from. In fact, lawyers have made public statements that this is impossible, if not illegal, to do,
Independent contractors are not eligible for workers’ compensation coverage; employers are not required by state law to purchase coverage for independent contractors. — Bethany K Laurence, Attorney
Insurance companies are risk averse to things like the potential for liability. Take, for example, a document which links you directly to a non profit trade association like NAMFS. Take, for example, York Jersey’s own language that to obtain insurance through them you must pay a tax — a NAMFS tax — in order to obtain insurance through York Jersey. The language is plain and unequivocal. And the simple and salient fact is that the form is still active. If York Jersey ever had any intention of removing their NAMFS application and NAMFS tax, it would no longer be accessible. To that point, though, if this was the original one and it was replaced with a superseding application, why is it Number 2 in the series?
The reality is that with no transparency, Minority Females and Labor are always the ones whom suffer.
