For those of us watching the train wreck of mass joinder efforts it seems every day brings a new episode of how not to run a debt relief business. In this case the mass joinder niche is where attorneys are selling access to lawsuits against banks for improprieties in mortgages. Access is sold through affiliates and marketing agents who have made all sorts of wild claims and promises. So many wild claims that the California Bar is already examining this area.
On April 1st John Crawford filed suit against Gary Girolamo, Attorney Processing Center, Chris Fox, Matthew Davis, National Consumer Law Group, Phillip Kramer, Kramer and Kaslow, also known as K2.
Crawford alleges the defendants were supposed to pay him a commissions for consumers he and his affiliates sold into a mass joinder suit. He states that the defendants did not keep “proper accounting” did not pay him the proper amounts, did not collect payments, and “performed services negligently causing clients to request money back and thereby caused Plaintiff financial harm.”
John Crawford also alleges fraud and the mysterious disappearance of consumer money by some of the defendants.
Plaintiff employed Defendants to collect money owed by clients to put in the client trust accounts of Defendants Matthew K Davis and Phillip Kramer. During the course of Defendants employment, Defendants, as bookkeepers and Client Trust Account holder. were solely and completely in charge of keeping the books and business records of Plaintiff’s affiliates and Plaintiff employed no other persons for that purpose.
During the period of their employment, Defendants, by means of false and fraudulent alteration and writing of checks drawn on the client trust accounts of Defendants Matthew K. Davis and Phillip Kramer, and by means of false, fraudulent, and deceptive entries in the check register, the journal, and other business records, misappropriated and converted to their personal use and possession, without Plaintiff’s knowledge or consent, an unknown amount of money which belonged to Plaintiff and his affiliates.
The complaint goes on to say that consumers that paid for services were were handled negligently, did not have their phone calls responded to, did not have emails responded to, and were not saved from having their homes foreclosed on.
You can read the full complaint here.
Probably the most interesting part of the suit is in the exhibits where we see the actually agreement for marketing agents to sell these legal services.
Exhibit B lists the commissions paid and fee split.
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