BofA's "Property Preservation" Contractor Accused Of Stiffing Subs Around The Country Out Of Tens Of Thousand$; Lender Says It's Not Their Problem

In Denver, Colorado, CBS4 reports:

• It sounded like the ideal business during a recession -- fixing up foreclosed homes for banks. But contractors in Colorado and around the country say they have been bilked. They asked CBS4 investigator Rick Sallinger to look into the company that's supposed to be paying them for their work.

• The contractors say they're struggling just to stay afloat now. The work they perform is called "property preservation." When a bank forecloses on a home they hire people to lock it up then later fix it up to be sold. Each home has a story, but sometimes not the story one would expect.

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• Contractors like [Ricardo & Venita] Curcurella have to put up their own money to maintain and fix up the homes to be sold. They document their work with photos then get reimbursed. "At first it was as simple as bookkeeping," Ricardo Curcurella said.

• Most of their business at the start came through a company acting as a middle man. It's now called Nomad Preservation Service. Nomad received payment from the Bank of America to preserve the homes. But the Curcurellas still haven't been paid all of their money. In fact, CBS4 found subcontractors around the country who claim Nomad owes them tens of thousands of dollars each. In the Cucurella's case, at least $40,000. "It's caused great financial hardship. We ourselves have been at the brink of eviction, which is kind of ironic," Ricardo said.

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• They are not alone. "We would change the door lock, disable the deadbolt," Mike Elder said. Elder is another of the Colorado contractors who did work for Nomad. He figures he secured or fixed up 1,000 homes with $25,000 of his own money. "It's been hard based on the income of this house. I bought a new house, moved, got married. I was questioning whether I was going to lose my home," Elder said.

• The primary owner of Momad is "Sam" Hussein Farouk Elhaje. CBS4 found he has a criminal record that includes robbery. Elder said he received a threatening phone message from him when he tried to recover the money he says he is owed. "Really, I can fly to Colorado if you actually want to f---ing meet me. But all these threats and b.s. you are throwing around you can give this to you and whoever you want to. I'll beat the living f--- out of you b-----!" Elhaje told Elder. "I was shocked at first then I was quite happy because then I can report a threat," Elder said.

• CBS4 repeatedly tried to reach Nomad and Elhaje through phone calls and also through e-mails. While contractors say they have not been paid, Elhaje has been busy obtaining expensive cars, according to those CBS4 talked to -- cars like a Viper, Lamborghini, Hummer and two Corvettes. In the end, it could be up to the courts. The Cucurellas and others have taken legal action against Elhaje and Nomad.

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• It doesn't sound like help is on the way. Bank of America Field Services wrote CBS4 that it "has met its financial obligations to Nomad. We expect our vendors to fulfill any obligations they have to their subcontractors.' CBS4 spoke to one man who says he is owed $200,000. Lawyers suing Elhaje and Nomad say he recently failed to show up for depositions.(1)

Source: Contractors Say They've Been Bilked By Company.

(1) The story is silent as to whether the subcontractors are slapping BofA with mechanics liens on the properties for the work they're performing, and the payments therefor that they're being stiffed on.