Those of us in the trenches know that there is an epidemic of
insurance fraud and barratry in Texas hail claims. Well, there is now
undeniable proof. On Friday, well-known hail attorney Kent Livesay
appeared in a Tarrant County courtroom and entered a guilty plea to insurance
fraud and barratry occurring in Texas hail claims. As part of his guilty
plea, Livesay accepted a 5-year prison sentence. YES, THAT’S RIGHT. A
Texas attorney has pleaded guilty and is going to prison for five years for
committing insurance fraud and barratry in hail claims. A copy of his plea
agreement is available here. A 343 page
listing of evidence accumulated by the TDI and Tarrant County District Attorney
used to support the indictment is available here.
And the story gets even more interesting. As part of his
guilty plea, Livesay agreed to appear in open court and lay out the details of
the entire fraud and barratry scheme. In disclosing these details, Livesay
implicated House of Tomorrow/Lambco owner Jorge Garcia, public adjuster Sandra
Harrison of PA Forensics, and estimator Sandra Villareal of Global Estimating.
Livesay alleged that he paid them up to $1,000 per case disguised as an
estimate fee. Livesay also mentioned several other attorneys
who he understood were also working with House of Tomorrow/Lambco.
Those names may sound very familiar to you because for almost two
years now Zelle has been pursuing a class action lawsuit against all of these
individuals in which we allege that they stole over $500,000 in insurance
checks from over 100 minority and elderly homeowners. A copy of our class
action petition is available here (start reading at page 9 for a
detailed description of the scheme). Here is a link to a CBS11 news report and a link to a Dallas Morning News article
about the alleged scheme.
With Livesay’s testimony clearly implicating all of these actors,
one can reasonably predict that additional indictments may soon follow. Perhaps
the TDI will also investigate whether these individuals were truthful or if
they committed perjury when I took their depositions last year.
Yes, I know what you are all thinking… “Wait a minute
Badger. Lawyers are still paying roofing contractors and other case
solicitors $1,000 to $1,500 for estimates that have a real value of only $300
to $500 in exchange for the contractor or case solicitor giving the lawyer’s
name to homeowners. Why isn’t that also illegal?”
Perhaps it is. Time will tell whether investigations of other
similar schemes, including those taking place in Harvey claims, remain ongoing.
Thanks to the TDI Fraud Unit and the Enforcement Division for
making this a priority issue for the benefit of insurance companies doing business
in Texas and, more importantly, for Texas insurance consumers who are the
ultimate victims of these schemes.
Posted by Steve Badger