STRATUS Franchise: Are Stratus Master Franchisees Jumping Ship?
May 18, 2012
Rumors abound that several large Master Franchisees of Stratus Building Solutions are defecting to compete with their beleagured commercial cleaning franchisor… and they’re taking their unit-level franchisees with them.
(UnhappyFranchisee.com) Stratus Building Solutions is under fire, both externally and, it seems, internally.
Externally, Stratus Building Solutions is defending itself from a lawsuit brought by attorney Jonathan Fortman on behalf of nearly 100 unit-level franchisees who claim that they were defrauded by the janitorial franchisor.
The allegations in Fortman’s lawsuit were damningly portrayed in a recent FOX 4 “Problem Solver” news report (See STRATUS Franchise Called “Pyramid Scheme” on FOX News).
Fortman contends that many of his clients invested thousands of dollars in the Stratus franchise for cleaning accounts they never received. Others received cleaning accounts, only to have them taken away and given to other franchisees.
“They are stealing from people,” said Fortman in the news story, “people are paying thousands of dollars and never getting an account.”
Internally, it’s rumored that major Stratus Master Franchisees are jumping ship. Master Franchisees from Georgia and New York are rumored to have formed a new, independent cleaning brand and are forcing their unit franchisees to convert.
It’s rumored that a Midwest Stratus Master Franchisee is forming an independent co-op and inviting other Stratus Master Franchisees to join.
East Coast and SE Stratus Master Franchisees Are Going Independent… and Taking Unit Franchisees With Them.
Two of the top 4 Master Franchisees in the Stratus franchise system, Jeffrey Aibel (Atlanta, GA) and Ken Casseri (Buffalo, NY) have reportedly formed a new company (called Pro Squared Facility Services™ or Pro2) and taken aggressive steps to disassociate their operations from Stratus Building Solutions.
Other contacts and markets listed on the new Pro Squared website include Jitendra Kapur (Stamford, CT), Dave Boutwell (Jacksonville, FL), and Joel Craddock (Rochester, NY).
Stratus unit-level franchise owners under Aibel’s Master Franchisee entity (Paladin Building Services) received a sudden and harsh letter demanding that they cease any usage of the Stratus Building Solutions name or trademarks by May 30, 2012 (The letter was dated May 14, 2012).
The letter threatened unit-franchisees with non-payment for their work and termination of their franchise agreements if they do not immediately adopt the new name and discontinue all use of Stratus Building Solutions-branded apparel, business cards, and company names, and destroy, replace or de-brand Stratus Building Solutions-branded equipment, vehicles and/or chemicals.
More Stratus Building Solutions Franchise Rumors & Innuendo
Word from the UnhappyFranchisee.com grapevine has it that:
- Another Stratus Master Franchisee in the Midwest is setting up a co-op for other Masters who want out of the system.
- Stratus has been offering the Master Franchisees the ability to terminate their master franchise agreements by paying 6 months of royalties and agreeing to indemnification concerning the franchisee lawsuit.
- As many as 40% of Stratus Master Franchisees may have ceased paying royalties.
As stated, the latter contentions are rumor and innuendo… If you have better information (or better rumors and innuendos), please add them as a comment below.
We have reached out to the Master Franchisees discussed and Stratus Building Solutions for clarification and comment to this story as well.
ARE YOU A STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS FRANCHISE OWNER OR FRANCHISEE? ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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115 Responses to “STRATUS Franchise: Are Stratus Master Franchisees Jumping Ship?”
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DJ met Fernando in New York in March 2012 to offer him a position as a master developer with $60,000 base salary and bonuses based on how many franchisees the masters sold. Fernando’s round trip flight was paid for by DJ. Carmen Garcia lunched/dined with Fernando regularly through April 2012 encouraging him to sign falsified documents.
Is Carmen Garcia willing to tell the truth and save herself or will she lie to protect Pete/DJ and then have Pete/DJ ‘let her swing’. DJ has already threatened to fire Garcia if she doesn’t fall in line and continue to support his fraudulent ways.
Reasoned Source, based on the two highly successful months of franchise cash from Goldeneye, the royalties from franchise cash alone sent to Stratus would have been in excess of $10,000 each month. Is this correct? No doubt Stratus would have wanted to continue such a profitable scheme by tempting Fernando with a better deal elsewhere –all that additional royalty cash coming in. Was this paid to Jarrett Realty?
I’m sure that anyone who owns at least five properties in Illinois (current web research – more to come) together with the many more that were bought and sold, not to mention the 8600 sq. ft. mansion that DJ lives in would need the money in order to maintain that lifestyle. Interesting to note that Pete lived in a home that was a little over a third the size of DJ’s mansion (guessing DJ will get a bigger jail cell than Frese).
Jarrett Realty would sure be a good location for DJ to hide money (offshore account maybe) It would also be a good place for Pete to hide money. Did the divorce attorneys look there?
Does this also mean that some of the funding for the lawsuits in different states comes from the Jarrett Realty account. More information is showing up about this side business as it becomes clear that franchise fees and loans were financed through Jarrett Realty and the payments were included in the same envelope as monthly royalties addressed to Stratus @ Innerbelt Circle.
Jarrett Realty has been taking money out of the company for five plus years. At least three masters (known so far) and maybe more were making payments to Jarrett Realty. Yet another unaffiliated and non-disclosed company in their FDD. Another intentional omission making the FDD fraudulent again and guessing violates the Truth in Lending Act. Can you say Attorney General’s office.
One thing is for sure now they have the Stratus Advisory Council aka Puppets, Pete/DJ won’t need Marvin Ashton or Carmen Garcia to communicate with the masters. At least it will save them some money. And isn’t money and ego what this is all about.
@ Guest 3: Wow! Great information…..Only thing about Carmen is she has been in the “gutter” with DJ before. They have a long history together, I don’t think she has been this close to having criminal complaint filed against her though.
@ Raul: That is the problem, in the case of Stratus, because of the “newness” of the company when compared to Jan-Pro, Coverall and Jani-King many masters were unaware of the garbage that has been spewed by DJ/Pete really until the Fortman lawsuits made little pieces of information that just happened to fit other little pieces of information which resulted in a good piece of the puzzle being completed……Fortman is right in many respects, if handled any differently than the way it has so far, the only one’s totally left out in the dark would be the unit franchises themselves. If the “case” had really been handled poorly, the vast majority of the unit franchises would have lost their investment as the masters would have been forced to handle themselves much differently.
@ Fortman: All I can add to Guest 3 is the fact that I have a copy of a legal document that states Jarrett Realty is an Illinois Corporation. That document was prepared by the “Poodles”.
Hope this all Helps…..
As an American who served his country for 3 years in the United States Army I am outraged by those who tout their franchises as being successful when others are exploiting that franchise as a crooked and manipulative franchise. How franchisors can establish an organization which gets to DIRECTLY advertise to our veterans is beyond my comprehension.
http://stratusclean.com/blog/
@ Todd Peterson: You are correct, it is disgusting on many levels. Marissa Lather is directly responsible for posting such garbage all over the internet in a direct attempt to solicit potential buyers into a system of lies/fraud. Individuals must be held accountable. Simply stating “I was ordered by my boss” to do this, is no longer viable when you know the same internet that you use to “promote” this fraud, is telling you directly and with proof that it is fraud…….DJ/Pete are bad people without a doubt, but in Marissa’s case, she must be held to that same level of accountability and she must also be called out for promoting to our “HEROS” a known fraud.
@ Owner-Operators in the following cities, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Diego and Houston aka “Dirty Players”. YOUR Masters of these cities have been directly linked to the fraud happening at Stratus Franchising, LLC. They all have been “validators” along with Ken Cassiri and Jeff Aibel. Some have directly admitted in phone conferences to personally know about the majority of the fraud being done by Pete Frese/DJ. That admission came during a phone meeting that was described earlier in this post which was attended directly by the two “poodles”. Talk about lack of ethics from an attorney! If they quit paying you, if they start pulling accounts away from you without cause, if they start closing the office more days than prior, YOU need to protect yourselves. Seek legal counsel for sure, if they write you a bad check (one that bounces) you need to file a criminal complaint with law enforcement. Contact your local TV Station, do whatever legally it takes to make sure these people in these cities are held as accountable as they should be. THEY are as much of a problem as Pete/DJ.
In many ways, it is past time to not only take our country back, but in this case directly, it is time to call a “spade a spade” and be damned of the fallout.
To those Masters still sitting on the sidelines, wondering what to do, GET UP OFF YOUR ASSES and DO WHAT IS RIGHT! DJ/Pete are to be thrown to the curb, they don’t deserve your loyalty, they don’t care about you, your family, your owner-operators, that has been proven time and time again. Cancel the agreement, do not pay royalties and get yourself OUT of Stratus NOW! Today is the 4th of July, No Better Day than today to start another REVOLUTION!
For those who have not done so, please go to the link below and voice your concern to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) involving your experience with your franchisor. This is the suggested forum of my state Senator and the ONLY government agency who can do anything about franchising besides an attorney.
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
Guest 3 and Reasoned source can you tell me more about Carmen Garcia? What is going on with her ???
@ 1st amendment: Not sure what information you are wanting, if you are wondering if it is the same Carmen Garcia that worked for Dennis Jarrett at Coverall and ran a Regional Office in California for Coverall the answer is yes….If you review some of the previous posts here, you will get more information.
@ Viewers: The “Puppet Committee” was announced this week, as figured the slime balls in Los Angeles and Philadelphia were placed on the committee, along with several of the smaller, “haven’t got a clue as to what is going on” or “too new to know any better” and one of the “fence sitters”….. What is funny, the “fence sitter” is paying more in royalties than all of the other Members combined, HELL, he is paying nearly 50% of all royalties going into Stratus Franchising, LLC! Seems to me, he should be demanding a Hell of a lot more power than anyone else along with the fact that he should be paying less than 2% such as Philadelphia and Los Angeles are paying.
Also, I would like to finish some “housekeeping” duties to fill in some holes…..It appears that Lincoln Baker, former partner with the Bashforth’s has felt the heat and left the San Diego “Group”. Funny, he thought this would be a great residual income to combine with his “insurance brokerage business”! Little did he know, that there was a chance that he would jeopordize his primary income due to license issues. In regards to the branch in San Diego, I would be very careful this month, I have heard from two sources that Bashforth’s are looking at options of closing the office sooner vs. later and/or turning it over to Los Angeles Master.
I also found it interesting, that Lincoln’s brother Tom is a recent partner in the Ft. Worth office. Wonder how that venture is going? By the way, I wonder why Fortman didn’t list them? Could it be that they aren’t registered properly in Texas?
In closing, I think the noose is getting tighter and tighter with Stratus Franchising, LLC. We seem to be getting a little movement recently in regards to seperation agreements throughout the country.
Stay tuned………
@ Viewers: Wonder what everyone thought about being named in the “Fortman” case. I mean no offense, is this really what Stratus Franchising, LLC and the “Poodles” really wanted? The last thing I would think they’d want was a bunch of lied too, fraud committed against, disgruntled, plain “pissed off” co-defendents………
Also, did anyone else get that warm/fuzzy feeling from the joint email release from Pete/DJ? I mean come on, they stated that they GUARANTEE that they are going to be successful on Tuesday against Fortman…..REALLY? Well lets see, I think they have said that at least twice before…The first time was when they moved the case to Federal Court (Poodles thought they were the “superior” SOB’s in Federal Court vs. Fortman) and guess what? They Lost! The second time is when they asked for a full dismissal in the State Court and guess what happened? ALL of the Masters (couple of exceptions) were then brought into the case as a result of the amended complaint! NICE JOB….
So, let me play devils advocate for just a second…..If I were a judge and I wanted to HEAR a compelling case, one that has potentially the following:
a) Harmed Unit Franchisees…..People from all across the country, from all backgrounds, all ethnic backgrounds, all with various “stories” in their hearts.
b) Harmed Master Franchisors as co-defendents…..People from Las Vegas, New Mexico, Virginia, North Texas to just name a few.
c) Masters that have already left the system as co-defendents……People from Buffalo, Rochester, Atlanta, Jacksonville, CT. to just name a few.
d) Masters that were sued by Stratus Franchising, LLC as co-defendents….People from Miami and Oregon to just name a few.
e) Masters that had to sue Stratus Franchising, LLC as co-defendents….People from Orange County
A company that has multiple FTC complaints filed against it as Stratus Franchising, LLC. currently does.
A company that has been accused of fraud, deceit, lies, personal/company injury in lawsuits as Stratus Franchising, LLC currently has filed against it.
A company that has numerous FDD violations that have been brought to life, such as Stratus Franchising, LLC currently has filed against it.
I could go on and on……But at the end of the day, I would be asked as a Judge to look at a dismissal based upon what? Some basic technical issue or listening to a case with all of the above and more listed? HMMM……I don’t know, I think as I was voted onto the bench, selected onto the bench, to serve the greater good of the State of Missouri, I’m thinking, I want to hear this case……Just my two cents, could be wrong, but really, how many times have I been wrong before?
So, something tells me that IF Pete/DJ have any common sense at all, (we know the Poodles don’t) that they will be scurrying about this weekend and certainly on Monday to get as many of the pending settlements completed, they will be “reaching out” to some of the “fence sitters” and see if they can at least lead them by the nose for a few more month’s as they attempt to re-package the company’s assets to a potential buyer…..
Just my random thoughts….
@ Viewers…..Sorry, got busy and forgot to post this final tidbit. As of yesterday, there were at least two attorneys (one from the south, one from the northeast) contacting masters (those on the list of the amended complaint) wanting to know if they would like to join other masters in a group effort to defend/respond to the amended complaint. Obviously, cost savings is the primary reason to say yes….So, to show you how stupid Stratus Franchising, LLC is, they literally brought this upon the Masters shoulders as stated prior both in the Federal Case (short lived) and now twice in the State of Missouri Case.
Now, if I were a group of Masters, paired with a group of Masters that had left the system, are leaving the system, what would an enterprising attorney suggest ALSO be done basically at the same time?
Let me give you a hint from the Atlanta based attorney ” Well, if you are interested in this cause of action, I have developed the program/templete for getting you out of your contract with Stratus Franchising, LLC”. “How could you possibly want to be tied to such people as these and have your hard earned dollars continue to fund their nonsense”. “Here’s my deal, give me six (6) month’s of your current royalty payments, (she will even do a payment plan) and I will GUARANTEE you seperation from Stratus Franchising, LLC.” “Whether or not, we have to go to court to do it”.
NICE MOVE POODLES!!!!! So I wonder, how many more “fence sitters” are now going to consider the following:
One Hand: It cost me no more than six (6) month’s of royalty payments to get seperated from a bunch of liars, thieves, con-men, won’t have to be associated with a bi-polar, womanizing, out of control gambler (DJ), nor a elitest acting, superior feeling, coward, liar, scapegoat, thief (Pete) and continue to have the name of the company trashed, more crap come out, bashed to hell for not making a decision (me) or be gone?
Other Hand: I can continue to support a brand that has been damaged beyond repair, I can continue to know that I never want to hear from DJ/Pete ever again, I can continue to have this “sinking feeling” in my stomach, I can continue to lose sleep on a nightly basis, I can continue to wonder what is next and stay with Pete/DJ the two people that caused this mess and continue to write them a 50% royalty check which is still overpayment for goods/services/brand rendered…..HMM, even a blind man can see that isn’t a wise decision.
Funny, anytime you put an attorney in charge of your business, making branding decisions, making operational decisions, making marketing decisions and wait for it….COMMON SENSE decisions, you end up just like Pete/DJ, fighting battles from the right, the left, underneath you, on top of you…Day/Night/7days a week. From people inside your organization, outside your organization, on blogs, on traditional news, in print and tv and even now, YOUR EMPLOYEE’S!
Poor Bastards, (Pete/DJ) I almost feel sorry for them, (Not really) because not only are they going to lose Stratus in the USA, they are going to be forced to find something else that no one knows who they are, where they are and where they can be found…….
More Information following soon…..
[...] (led by attorneys Scott J. Dickenson and Mathew A. Jacober, referred to as the “poodles”* on UnhappyFranchisee.com), presumably from the life savings of many of the [...]
Well, the poodles have their fluffy coats in a bunch. They obviously are big fans of UnhappyFranchisee.com, as they have quoted from this comment thread quite a bit in the motions they have filed against Jonathan Fortman.
You can read about their futile efforts to silence discussion and information sharing here:
LATHROP AND GAGE: Lighten Up & Enjoy Your Lucre (Part 1)
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/lathrop-and-gage-lighten-up-enjoy-your-lucre-part-1/
Part 2 shall list more reasons why they should back off their effort to silence criticism of their client and should back off Fortman. They are making themselves look worse than they already do – more yappy chihuahua than poodle.
Their firm has 281 attorneys and revenue of $138,000,000. Fortman has 1 attorney (Fortman) plus some outside assistance from allied colleagues.
Is Lathrop and Gage seriously crying foul?
Do they really expect a judge to believe that Fortman is unfairly tipping the scales of justice in his favor? Or are they really just providing some comic relief to an otherwise mundane proceeding? (If so, kudos Lathrop and Gage)
LATHROP AND GAGE: Lighten Up & Enjoy Your Lucre (Part 2)
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/lathrop-and-gage-lighten-up-enjoy-your-lucre-part-2/
While this is a tongue-in-cheek response to Lathrop and Gage’s protestations against Fortman’s comments on this thread (sort of like Goliath whining that David is not fighting fair), the Lathrop and Gage posts do call into question the competence of DJ/Pete’s legal team. A few points:
Lathrop & Gage (aka poodles) incorrectly stated in their motion that UnhappyFranchisee.com is Jonathan Fortman’s blog. Wrong. Fortman has no ownership nor editorial control over UnhappyFranchisee.com.
Lathrop & Gage appears to have incorrect math in their motion, referring to six subpoenas then listing five recipients of those subpoenas. At best, sloppy legal work.
Lathrop and Gage contend that Fortman made a “shocking” statement regarding the trial judge. The statement turned out to actually be complimentary to the judge, as Fortman characterized her as no-nonsense judge unlikely to tolerate their delay tactics and general poodlery.
I would love to know what the poodles will bill Stratus for this nonsensical and lame attempt to attack Fortman for expressing his opinion here. $10K? $15K? $20K?
They should be conserving their funds for franchisee settlements, not indulging the hurt feelings of their overpriced law firm, IMHO.
PS Kudos to Reasoned Source for his/her nicknaming prowess. The poodles vs. junkyard dog conversation has made it into the legal motions. :)
@ Viewers: Now no offense, even you fence sitters must be a little more motivated to move on now! I mean come on, the stupidity of the motions, the timing of the motions, the need of the motions clearly shows a path of stupidity at best and total incompetence at worst! THESE ARE YOUR PARTNERS……
@ Admin: Wow, You, Me, Fortman all literally mentioned in the same breath have outwitted, outplayed and will outlast the “Poodles”, DJ/Pete and the supporting cast of the con-artists Marissa Lather, David Farrell, Marvin Ashton, Carmen Garcia, Bill Blair and Bob Statpleton. I guarantee you, to date, the bill for the “Poodles” and their crackpot (sorry, meant crack shot) Team, is well north of 100K. I’ve been paid zero, I bet Fortman has been paid technically less than zero and I doubt other than some extra advertising and viewership you’ve been paid only slightly more than zero!
@ Fortman: Nice Job! You can turn this into an advertising bonanza and make the “Junk Yard Dog” into a trademark and branding genious….Just remember my cut! Understand, we are all Capitalists at Heart!
There is a little sadness, with all joking aside….The north of 100k has been spent on non-sense and it could have been/should have been spent making things better for the harmed Masters and harmed Owner-Operators.
The stupidity of it all is that all of this could have been avoided if they had simply accepted a reasonable offer to “step aside” and the brand along with the group integrity could have remained.
There is as much sadness in this tragedy as there is Joy and Laughter that the “Poodles” provide…..
Just my thoughts…..Cost, Nothing!
Reasoned Source:
It is definitely sad. One of the documents Lathrop & Gage objected to Fortman sharing was his email that showed he had reached out to them to talk about a settlement.
Instead of even entertaining the possibility of settling with those whose money they took, Lathrop and Gage attorneys opted for the traditional war of attrition whereby you delay, distract and complicate in order to waste the resources and break the will of your lesser-financed adversary. Of course, Lathrop & Gage will be getting paid handsomely throughout the delay process and the tens of thousands of dollars that could have gone to deserving franchisees will go to them.
The traditional legal battle they subscribe to is like the two sides lining up like redcoats on a football field just out of gunshot range of each other. They charge their clients $1000 per bullet and keep trading volleys until one side’s client can’t afford any more ammo. That way, the one with more money to give to their law firm almost always wins.
These guys get very indignant when someone messes with the rules of the game. Someone like Fortman and his associates come along and don’t charge $1000 per bullet, they threaten the whole game. If they dress in deerskin and coonskin caps and start firing from the bleachers or behind the concession stand, then the Lathrop & Gage types cry foul and accuse them of professional misconduct.
They don’t want anybody doing anything other than firing $1000 bullets on the designated playing field, because their country club dues, BMW payments and $450K profit-per-partner ratio is contingent on the game staying predictable and rigged.
@ admin: Don’t get me wrong, I am a capitalist at heart and I never want to complain about someone elses success and what they charge and can obviously collect from their clients in regards to the fees they charge their clients. However, I couldn’t agree with you more, but I think the blame for this whole mess lies solely on the shoulders of Pete/DJ only. They had a great opportunity to become HEROS to a bunch of disgruntled and harmed Masters and Owner-Operators. They chose to rely on attorneys to become the defacto managers/owners/sales/marketing/operations manager of the company as a whole.
@ Guest 3- Did you find out what they had for dinner? (DJ and Fernando) seems like you know everything else…NICE JOB! It is a terrible shame what happened to Fernando’s family, the role that Stratus had in supporting his obvious drug habit, his “above the law” attitude as he demonstrated by ripping off countless of hard working men/women/families of their life savings and making promises that NO ONE in the entire company including the Corporate Office themselves could not make in regards to Sales matrix.
@ Viewers- I heard from a Master today, that he once visited DJ’s office at Stratus and directly behind his desk is a wall size map of the world. His comment was, “that still might not be big enough to fit his enormous ego!”.
It is truly a shame what has happened to a group of good, faithful, trustworthy Masters that have left or are in the process of leaving a company that THEY truly built from scratch….All will work itself out in the near future…
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