In September 2007 Armando Montelongo was arrested on “theft of service” charges in Austin, Texas.
Theft of Service: the legal term for a crime which is committed when a person obtains valuable services — as opposed to goods — by deception, force, threat or other unlawful means, i.e., without lawfully compensating the provider of said services. It may also overlap with some types of fraud in which payment is made on credit, but under an assumed identity, and ultimately disavowed.
Court records state the real estate developer and entrepreneur is accused of not paying a bill of over $4000 to an Austin-based property appraisal company for work done in 2005 and 2006.
According to an arrest affidavit, Montelongo hired Reliance Appraisal Services of Austin to perform several appraisals but never paid. The cost of those appraisals was $4,125, the affidavit said.
Theft of Service is a State Jail Felony, punishable by up to two years behind bars and a fine up to $10,000. [Source]
In January 2009 Armando Montelongo was cleared of all charges and took to his blog to rejoice and tell his side of the story…..
** A woman by the name of (who honestly cares) has a real estate appraisal service in Austin, Texas. She claimed that my company ordered several appraisals from her and didn’t pay. She sent the bill and I disputed it because I DID NOT ORDER THE APPRAISALS. In fact, some of the appraisals she was attempting to charge me for were for properties THAT WERE NOT MINE!
This is called a civil dispute since it is over a business matter. She sent me a threat letter from a civil attorney and I again disputed that I did not order these appraisals. The civil attorney immediately backed off since this is a case he could NOT win.
In my opinion, she now decided that since a civil attorney would not take a case that they would LOSE, that she would go the way of attempting to use the police department to act as a bill collector for her…..
…..Now that I have been cleared, I must look at the damage this woman caused. She slandered my name across a national scale…..
…..I will have NO MERCY as I file a Slander and Libel suit against her. I will also file such suite against her advisors as well! There is a time to rest and a time to fight. Now, after justice has been served, my enemies will remember me for the rest of their lives as I am about to launch the greatest war with the BEST lawyers in seeking compensation for the damages this woman caused. Many of the damages will be reserved for the court of law and for the lawyers to hash out. **
Read the rest of what Armando Montelongo has to say about his theft of service drama HERE at ArmandoMontelongo.com.
I’m not going to argue or disagree with Armando’s anger towards all this so-called BS because you can’t argue with someone’s feelings, but I do have a problem with him turning his anger into a quest for blood, and wasting valuable time that he could use to focus on improving his reputation through positive actions, and spending quality time with his family.
Sometimes you just have to choose your battles, and I’m not too sure that going after some crazy lady is worth the fight. Plus, to me, it just makes you look guiltier – I mean, if it’s all a bunch of BS and you’ve been cleared then why not just leave well enough alone instead of trying to defend yourself? Defend yourself and plead your innocence too long and too loud, I start to wonder which one of us you’re trying to convince.
I’ve had some experience with shady businessmen and the one thing they all had in common was their unwavering belief that they were doing nothing wrong – even when the law said they were. They also all suffer from massive glasshouse-itis – as in they are very quick to throw stones without ever admitting or acknowledging they live in glass houses themselves.
The point being that perhaps Armando Montelongo should take a deeper look at what he’s really up to and what his true deep down inside intentions are.
This isn’t to say that Armando is not a good businessman or that his programs are scams – because I don’t believe they are – I’m just sayin’ maybe he needs to do some self-reflection.
I totaly agree with the author: You won the case forget about it; What lost of reputation when you was broke you didn’t have one and you then went out and got one leave short coats and jealous people alone plus you have profited from the free publicity.
While I am no fan of his, the fact that some person would file fake charges (he was found not guity) against him is inexcuseable. I don’t blame him for going after this person civilly. I say, “go for it” and get a good amount of money”!
His arrest was plastered all over the place, yet this “not guilty” story was hard to find. I was swearching for what happened and after many searches found this site and the news.
How many people after hearing of his arrest, assumed he was guilty. This is what hurt his reputation, not him going after this false charge.
If you were falsely charged, I highly doubt you would “move on” and let bygones be bygones!
I lean towards both sides. This one is tough.
Armando was not cleared. Here in Austin, we know that the appraiser accepted full payment with extra for damages in exchange for dismissing the charges. That does not make him innocent, or in any way capable of going after anyone.
You know, people need to stop blaming other people for thier own mistakes. Armando is a great man, he will be a Billionare one day, and TRUST me, I am not a wealthy person, but I know REAL when I see it. So for the lady who tried to (Win The Lottery), DONT HATE, APRECIATE!!!!!!
Mr. Roberts,
I doubt that you have had any dealings with Mr. Montelongo, so I will tell you that while I agree people should accept responsibility for their own actions, clearly Mr. Montelongo should learn and live that philosophy himself. When he and his brother sever their business relationship with each other, he went on tv and was very critical of his own brothers’ morality. So who is the “good” guy in that.
He always bullies contractors and (it seems mostly Hispanics) coerces them on the shows that he is on. Never do I see him put any of those negotiations in writing (I get it, it may not be shown due to editing), so while legally I believe he did not have an agreement with the appraiser, he very well could have asked this individual “what is something worth” and since e didn’t have a wrtten contract, he was in the right. As for the properties he didn’t own, he may have seen an opportunity and asked for comps in the area, a common practice with investors, but then decided not to purchase the property, hence “not his property”.
I’m not saying anything, I’m just saying…
I know several contractors who “bully” their help. It has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with money. I myself have negotiated with contractors when I felt their prices unfair and have gotten appraisals from other companies.When you show other appraisals for the work they usually back off their prices. I do not care to flip real estate because I live in a small area but think that it would be a fun job if you have the right help that is not going to screw you. Obviousily Montelongo has this kind of help. They all know the type of person he is yet they continue to work with him. More than likely that is because they make money working with him. Hmmmmm.