S06.E13: Meri Catfished

[BasqueGirl]

Well, I do hope that someone is going to save everything in some kind of archive because BatfishsamMan is also saying that he is going to pull everything at the end of the week to move on and move forward or something like that.  But he hasn't mentioned the big book that he is writing to put the whole story out there in awhile.  Changed his mind?

 

Can I recommend adopting a new puppy, not a human baby...to fill the void that Meri left in his heart...maybe a lifelike stuffed puppy?

 

She did mention it in her comments, I read because I'm the astrologer with the fascination with serial killers (and potentially dangerous people in general). She said she is going to sell it cheap.

[RealityCowgirl]

I'm putting this here since it's the catfish thread. I'm pasting it because it's good info about the family and I don't want JO to get a pile of hits, which seems to be feeding here. Mods..please delete and let me know if I shouldn't have posted it and I won't do it again.

From a comment to one of her readers:

For someone Meri claims to be afraid of, JO sure has a lot of personal information. And like someone her said earlier, I believe there is truth in his lies.

Samuel says:

November 30, 2015 at 7:20 am

Yes they get paid a lot and they also can’t afford their houses. Robyn has a medical lien on her house from medical bills. I think Christine also has a medical lien because of medical bills. They help pay for the kids in college and out shopping and spending a lot of money. It does not cover everything. Meri has to put things on credit cards then pay them off when she can. They are all on about $5000 to $7000 a month budget. They all have mortgages that went up $700 a month because their interest rates rose. Which none of them expected. When the show ends they are going to be in trouble. This is why Meri is protecting the show from the real truth.

Bearing in mind that the source is a lunatic, this all feels plausible. My first reaction: WE knew their mortgages would balloon like that. How could they not know? Yeesh.

Second reaction: my husband and I ( no kids) bring home something in that allowance range every month. We pay our bills on time. We bought a house we could afford 20+ years ago and still live there (mortgage is less than the interest increase lunatic reports above). We put a reasonable amount in savings and in small investments, but nothing wild. There are months when we can barely afford the dog and his many "compelling" needs.

Of course, they're still living off of credit cards. They'd have to for the basics at that level - not to mention all the crap they "deserve" and "must" have.

And, of course, they're "paying (credit cards) off when (they) can." Meaning counting down the days to the next round of bankruptcies.

Must be nice, never having to actually live like responsible adults...

Edited November 30, 2015 by RealityCowgirl

[CofCinci]

Of course, they're still living off of credit cards. They'd have to for the basics at that level - not to mention all the crap they "deserve" and "must" have.

From pictures shared by JO, Meri has the Restoration Hardware St. James bedroom set. I know this because I saved up 3 years for mine. We all know Meri is the type to say that she "deserves" the bedroom set without actually working for it.

I can't imagine Meri's house being around for much longer. Kody doesn't keep his tools in the garage anymore, literally and figuratively. It's just Meri and her wet bar of tears. Even if they rented the house out, they would most likely still not even break even with the increased mortgage payment.

[DakotaJustice]

Overton is mixing a bit of truth with the BS, to make the BS more palatable. Meri isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and she's lonely, so i can totally see her confiding in JO regarding the finances especially since i am sure she was angry at Kody and Robyn as well.

Figured theyd have an ARM as well as spending money like water. All this has the ring of truth.

If they each have a $5-7k budget that probably means mortgage payments eat up at least half of that amount. The rest goes to pay cc bills, college costs, and hair products.

Edited November 30, 2015 by DakotaJustice

[leighroda]

I thought we all already knew Robyn had a medical lein on her house, isn't that old news?

[CofCinci]

I remember Robyn's medical lien discussed before, but I don't recall Christine's.

[Kohola3]

Just because Sam/JO/Lindsay say so doesn't make it true.  It would appear that 99.9% is a load of crap.

[kassa]

Truely's bills must have been pretty high -- even if they're insured I can see them just ducking their percentage of the bills because the lien can go on the house which they know they'll be walking away from anyway. 

[RealityCowgirl]

Truely's bills must have been pretty high -- even if they're insured I can see them just ducking their percentage of the bills because the lien can go on the house which they know they'll be walking away from anyway.

Speaking of not living up to adult responsibilities...

That child probably would have avoided the trauma (and expense) of that near-death experience if the ADULTS had been paying attention - PARENTING - and not screwing around with their junior high crap.

No lien necessary. No sick and scared little girl, either. Imagine that.

[Snarklepuss]

I wish some beautiful lesbian would catfish JO.

 

I wish some homely straight man posing as a beautiful lesbian would catfish JO.

[SometimesBites]

A hospital lien was put on Robyn's house in June 2013, and was released August 2015 (about a month before Kody was added to her deed.)

 

There are no records of a lien on Christine's house--the only record associated with her parcel number is the original deed from 12/21/2012.

 

Interestingly, there is a recent lien on Janelle's house by the trash company, from late July to late October of this year.

 

No liens on Meri and Kody's house.

 

Janelle, Kody, and Meri still own the Lehi house. Meri was added to the deed in 2009. Taxes are paid to date (~$2,200 per year). They pay nearly $18,500 per year in taxes for the LV homes.

[CofCinci]

How big does your trash bill get before they put a lien on your home?!?! Woah.

[SometimesBites]

How big does your trash bill get before they put a lien on your home?!?! Woah.

Yeah, I'd love to the know the story behind that lien. Did Janelle forget to pay the bill? Did they lock the trucks out of the gates by accident and decide they didn't need to pay for the week when there was no pickup? Did the Browns suspect their pickup person of going through their cans for dirt to sell the tabloids? Did the trash truck dent a minivan and refuse to settle up for damages? It seems like a bizarre thing to default on--why Janelle's house specifically? Wouldn't they pick up everyone's trash on the same day, and if so why did everyone else pay their bill. Or maybe they ONLY have trash service at Janelle's address, and the company found out they were picking up trash for all four houses and billed them retroactively...

 

100% speculation on my part, because inquiring minds want to know.

[Snarklepuss]

That is so funny about the trash bill lien.  I'd like to hear that story too.  Did Janelle space out?  So much for her being the financial wiz of the family if so, LOL.

[CofCinci]

Yeah, I'd love to the know the story behind that lien. Did Janelle forget to pay the bill? Did they lock the trucks out of the gates by accident and decide they didn't need to pay for the week when there was no pickup? Did the Browns suspect their pickup person of going through their cans for dirt to sell the tabloids? Did the trash truck dent a minivan and refuse to settle up for damages? It seems like a bizarre thing to default on--why Janelle's house specifically? Wouldn't they pick up everyone's trash on the same day, and if so why did everyone else pay their bill. Or maybe they ONLY have trash service at Janelle's address, and the company found out they were picking up trash for all four houses and billed them retroactively...

100% speculation on my part, because inquiring minds want to know.

You're probably right about them bringing all their trash over to Janelle's. In the episode where they built the cardboard boats, there was a lot of junk/trash in Janelle's garage (including a broken treadmill). Eventually the trash company must have caught on?

[DakotaJustice]

The Janelle trash lien theories just made coffee come out of my nose!! *snort*

The junk and crap in her garage - I had stopped watching the show a couple seasons back, so didn't see, but I just flashed on the huge mess they left in the Lehi house following the Faux Exodus.

Edited December 2, 2015 by DakotaJustice

[Armchair Critic]

That is so funny about the trash bill lien.  I'd like to hear that story too.  Did Janelle space out?  So much for her being the financial wiz of the family if so, LOL.

 

I've been saying this from the beginning, I think too much credit has been given to Janelle. If she really had the brains she wouldn't be in deep with this lame bunch, she is drinking the Kool Aid with the rest of them.

[SometimesBites]

I've been saying this from the beginning, I think too much credit has been given to Janelle. If she really had the brains she wouldn't be in deep with this lame bunch, she is drinking the Kool Aid with the rest of them.

Well the trash lien certainly puts the lie to her fabulous accounting ability. Unless you're in deep financial straits, you DON'T get a lien on your home by the garbage company. I mean...come on.

[RealityCowgirl]

Once again, with gusto, Browns: responsible adults pay their bills, even the un-fun ones, like trash collection. If you're too lazy or stupid to do so, you suck.

Count me in as someone mystified by a trash collection bill so big it merits a lien on a house. That's criminally stupid.

Edited December 2, 2015 by RealityCowgirl

[Readalot]

I would not be a bit surprised to see Mariah blame Meri for the whole thing. Her defense of this lifestyle is so ingrained it would have to be the individual wife's fault, and not "THE FAMILY". Yeah, I'm shouting.

You have to have a little life experience before you can realize the damage having your marital needs unmet can do.

as I was reading Armchair Critic's post I was thinking the exact same thing. I think Meri might be too emotionally invested with Mariah. I hope after the wash is shaken out Mariah doesn't distance herself from Meri because of this because I think it would cause Meei to really go over the deep end. Hopefully Mariah will see the light and change her mind of wanting a life as a sister wife. Edited December 2, 2015 by Readalot

[egilsdottir]

Ha. Can you imagine if the garbage company simply refused to pick up the Browns' trash, and it just sat there in the 100+ degree Vegas heat, smelling to high heaven? They probably have a ton of trash too, with all of the stupid parties they have, Meri's empty bottles of Fiji water and self tanner, and Robyn tossing away every photo of David Jessop with "the kids" so they can pretend Kody is their bio-dad.

 

I feel really bad for the Browns' neighbors. Can you imagine living in the cult-de-sac with them?

 

Since "Sam's" "team of attorneys" apparently stayed up all night transcribing this episode of Sister Wives, you'd think they would have filed a lawsuit by now. Oh, wait...

[BlackWidow]

I would not be a bit surprised to see Mariah blame Meri for the whole thing. Her defense of this lifestyle is so ingrained it would have to be the individual wife's fault, and not "THE FAMILY". Yeah, I'm shouting.  

 

   I don't know, from the tell-all and the somewhat sheepish 'I-don't-want-to-say' face she made when asked this question, I'm thinking she doesn't 'blame' her mom and also is thinking twice about following in her footsteps. Could also be she feels like any answer she gave would be then used as fodder for follow-up tell-all questions and media criticism, which we are already doing. If she says yes, we will say, wtf really? and she will feel bad, and if she says no, people will say, see  I knew it was a crappy situation all along, you were there to see it firsthand and we were right.

In the Alaska episode it looked like Meri was sitting at a different table than the kids, including Mariah.

 

I really hope she doesn't get estranged from her mom over all this, and let her resentment over the move out of state color her feelings about this latest bs-as I'm sure she really has seen firsthand how it affects all of them. After all, her mom did fight for her to go to the college of her choice and is probably still paying for it to some degree. If that is so, she would probably want her mom to keep being on the show, right? Maybe that seems all cold and pragmatic, but hey, I'm sure Westminster (I think that is where they said she attends) is not cheap and TLC or scholarships might not be covering the whole deal, so whether or not she gets paid individually for tell-all or SW appearances, if her mom is contributing, I would think she would have a reason for her mom to want to hang in there.

 

So even if she does 'blame' her mom for whatever, she would have to pretty much shut up about it and like she did on the tell-all, remain coy and vague about her opinions, you know, like saying "well I'm young and figuring stuff out still, I don't know". I would doubt though, that after she got over the initial WTH of hearing about it from who knows, friends, internet, etc., she would still probably stand by her mom- she wasn't too young not to get how the whole adding #4 thing affected everyone, that and the whole 'IVF should I or shouldn't I ' thing, knowing that even while it seemed she wanted her mom to do it, she knows her mom wasn't like 30 considering this and how hard it would be to go through all that and then maybe it not even work, or she might have problems or unexpected results and so on. Hopefully she is smart enough to know this having studied medicine and also just knowing having yet another kodlet wouldn't be the magic bullet to make everything great for her mom and might in fact have made things even harder.

Edited December 2, 2015 by BlackWidow

[CofCinci]

Bleed the beast, one trash can at a time.

Poor lonely Meri's trash is probably just banana peels and tear-stained Kleenex.

[All the Ys in Utah]

Bleed the beast, one trash can at a time.

Poor lonely Meri's trash is probably just banana peels and tear-stained Kleenex.

I like the cut of your jib.

[tabloidlover]

How in the FUCK do you get a lien on your house for trash pick up?????  

[SometimesBites]

How in the FUCK do you get a lien on your house for trash pick up?????  

Yeah, that's pretty much the $65,000 question. Or some amount--god knows how much you have to rack up before the garbage company throws up its hands and liens your real estate

[MsTree]

In LV, if you don't call the trash company to generate an account, they have no way of knowing you exist. For all intents & purposes, she could have been placing her trash at the end of one of her SW's driveways. Perhaps someone from the trash company watches the show, figured it out and then slapped her with a HUGE bill for the last few years. Otherwise, I don't see them placing a lien for $45-50, which is the quarterly amount due per household.

[AZChristian]

Had a couple of spare minutes, and no real life, so I did a quick search.

 

According to Clark County (NV) law, every property that has electricity running to it MUST pay for trash service.  My gut feeling is that Janelle has been parsing her trash out to the other houses in the cult-de-sac, and got caught; then she was billed for all the trash costs for the 3 years since they moved in.  So it wasn't just for a couple of bucks.

 

The lien was placed earlier this year, and paid off in October.  

[NotRealYet]

Re: Sam's threats.

I don't believe this either. I can certainly see JO making empty threats but nothing incredibly serious because in order to make real threats JO would be compromising her online persona(s). Besides that, rather than YOU protecting your family, call the police who CAN. Is it embarrassing and hurtful to admit you had an emotional affair? Yes. Is it safer to deal with the consequences instead of risking your family's safety? Yes.

I agree that all of this happened around the divorce time. I wonder if Meri felt hurt and that caused her to seek attention elsewhere or if she realized she was finally free enough to do so.

Slightly OT:

I believe I have said this before but I think plural marriage is fine as long as the people involved are consenting adults... However, I have yet to see a show or documentary that showcases a happy plural family. SW started off okay but we quickly were able to see that these women had issues, especially with jealousy. I dislike Robyn so I understand that part of it... But at the same time you chose plural marriage, you chose a lifestyle where your husband has multiple other wives. While I think being jealous is normal, I sort of feel like you don't get to be jealous when you CHOSE that.

I think I veered off somewhere here. I started out with a real purpose, I promise! ;)

Edited December 3, 2015 by NotRealYet

[tabloidlover]

In LV, if you don't call the trash company to generate an account, they have no way of knowing you exist. For all intents & purposes, she could have been placing her trash at the end of one of her SW's driveways. Perhaps someone from the trash company watches the show, figured it out and then slapped her with a HUGE bill for the last few years. Otherwise, I don't see them placing a lien for $45-50, which is the quarterly amount due per household.

That's even worse!  Only $45 to $50 per quarter???  In CA, we pay over $30 every.single.month for trash pick up.  I totally see your scenario going down.... These people are such con artists.  Always looking for the freebie.  Have we ever seen them give back anything in any fashion?  Like, ya know, CHARITY?  Ugh

[kassa]

Doesn't make sense that Janelle with a half dozen people living in her house would be dragging her trash to other people's houses.  I mean, Meri would have much less trash, wouldn't she?  But I suppose Meri and Kody's chief residence had to be on the up and up, and Janelle was tasked with being the cheat so if she got caught, no harm done?

[SometimesBites]

I know this: if my life was up for public scrutiny I would do everything in my power to prevent embarrassing, trivial bullshit from being logged into the public record for mass consumption. This includes trash liens, overdue hospital bills, virtual romances with perfect strangers, banana photos, itty-bitty jackets, and mighty-tight jeans. The list could be endless. Respect and fear the insatiable appetite of even D-list celebrity watchers.

Edited December 3, 2015 by SometimesBites

[Juliegirlj]

Sometimesbites, where did you find the information about a lien on Janelle's house by the trash company, if you don't mind my asking? Is it on the Clark County Court Records website? I would like to check it out. Were there any other liens on any of their houses besides what you mentioned?

[SometimesBites]

Sometimesbites, where did you find the information about a lien on Janelle's house by the trash company, if you don't mind my asking? Is it on the Clark County Court Records website? I would like to check it out. Were there any other liens on any of their houses besides what you mentioned?

Yes, it's all public record in Clark County. You can search by name and then filter for liens. Be aware that there is more than one Christine Brown in LV, one with various records going back many years. Despite what JO claimed, "our" Christine only has a single real estate transaction recorded, the day she closed on her house; the other "Christine Brown" records are for a different parcel number. So no--the only property liens on the McMansions are Robyn's hospital bill and Janelle's trash lien. You'll also see when Kody was added to the deed on Robyn's house.

[momofsquid]

So if I'm reading this correctly, it's likely that JO/Sam obtained her information about a lien against Christine's home from public records, not realizing that there was another Christine Brown. She's probably getting her "inside info" the same way we are.

[DakotaJustice]

Totally makes sense. Plus we've been theorizing all along (well I have anyways) that the Browns are living on their credit cards. Just as they always have- they're living larger now is all.

[SometimesBites]

So if I'm reading this correctly, it's likely that JO/Sam obtained her information about a lien against Christine's home from public records, not realizing that there was another Christine Brown. She's probably getting her "inside info" the same way we are.

Bingo. Not that that would stop JO from creating a story, even if she realized the truth. There are so many situations that I can look at and even when I think someone is a head case, I can get a handle on the tiniest sliver of there-but-for-the-grace-of-god empathy. In JO's case, I just cannot. She is so trippy to me. Sorry, but the persistence with the fantasy in the harsh light of day is some kind of psychosis.

[Kiss my mutt]

Maybe they pick up the trash to go through it and see if there is any info to sell to the tabloids.

[SometimesBites]

Maybe they pick up the trash to go through it and see if there is any info to sell to the tabloids.

That was one of my theories, too. Wouldn't you give a pie to get the inside scoop? ;)

 

ETA: I just tipped Hollywoodlife.com about the trashy little lien. Maybe someone who cares can ferret out the reason.

Edited December 6, 2015 by SometimesBites

[jellywager]

I'm not so sure that there are a lot of men out there willing to take on the emotional baggage that Meri carries.  Plus the thought of having sex with someone who carries all of the various diseases the other wives might have and are passed around by the Lord High Pseudo Priest of the Make Up the Rules as You Go religion.  And Meri's been publicly humiliated with pictures, text, and voicemail by Sam/Lindsey/Jackie.

 

Not exactly a prime candidate for a solid, normal, monogamous relationship.

Sorry but her lack of self-esteem and desperation is attractive to a lot of controlling dickheads. Look how she groveled to please an imaginary man. I think her looks and her laziness (and expensive taste..heh) will hold her back from attracting the lowlifes that would prey on her. 

[Kooda]

I wonder how this jackie is going to produce pictures for this new ebook. On the notbatmanyet site, she said there will be pictures of them together. I guess we will see how her Photoshop skills are.

[Tabbygirl521]

I wonder how this jackie is going to produce pictures for this new ebook. On the notbatmanyet site, she said there will be pictures of them together. I guess we will see how her Photoshop skills are.

She should contact Robyn and get a revisionist portrait done.

[Kohola3]

She should contact Robyn and get a revisionist portrait done.

 

Maybe add a few kids and a dog.

[Kooda]

Well haha, I guess she is trying her photoshop skills.  On the batman blog, "she" is apparently showing a messenger discussion with kendra and meri and it looks like there are photos inserted.. I'm not sure how the messenger works. But why would Kendra insert photos of Meri's  "fake" Skype with "fake sam?" makes no sense.

[DakotaJustice]

Did you notice that the one with the photos is the ONE screenshot that has the top header cut off?

Plus you cant see the lower right corner pic that is purportedly Sam.

Meri needs to make a clean breast of this, her partial responses are doing her no favors. Provide full disclosure of her texts etc. but I suspect she's holding back for next season.

[All the Ys in Utah]

I couldn't sleep this morning so I went poking around the web and found a couple of cool websites.

Genderanaylzer.com allows you to put in a website and it uses AI to try and guess if a websites homepage was written by a male or female.

Results from notbatmanyet.com was 69% sure it was written by a woman.

Then I found hackerfactor.com/genderguesser. This allows you to put in a writing sample and it judges the gender of the author by the words they used. I pulled samples from 5 of the CF's blog posts. The ones I analyzed were:

Message and a Prayer

To Adopt or Not

Breaking Down

Counting Down to Being Nobody

I Feel Completely Worthless

All but the last came back as being written by a female. Is this conclusive evidence? No, not really but I did find it interesting.

I couldn't test the commenters because the site requires at least a 300 word sample to make a judgement.

Edited December 16, 2015 by All the Ys in Utah

[CofCinci]

You can also feed JO's blog post through writing grade-level analyzers too. She consistently writes at 6-8th grade level.

[SometimesBites]

Oh, what giggle-fest. JO has posted the cover image and first page of the "book" on notbatmanyet. The cover is bad; the writing is worse. It's a florid bit of steaming twaddle. I'm having a little PTSD to my days teaching basic composition at a community college. Her comments to herself are the usual "oh Samuel, you poor brave darling" crap. I do wonder who "Tracy" is--someone claiming that her family and Kody's share a cemetery.

Well, I'm reasonably entertained, for a Monday.