Joseph Richards & Associates

Dear Mr. [redacted],
Our records indicate that you collected your funds based on
the claim our firm filed on your behalf three years ago. We are fully
licensed and regulated by the proper authorities, and have the background to
conduct this type of service with many years of experience. We are...

not a
scam as you received the funds we informed you about but failed to submit the
payment for services rendered. If you have documentation to confirm that you
indeed filed the claim on your own prior to our Agreement, please submit to our
office and we will be glad to review it and adjust your account accordingly.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/11/30) */
Mr. [redacted] was sent a notification by our firm offering assistance in the recovery of unclaimed property for a fee. We offer a service like any other agency where the individual has the option to accept or refuse our offer. Mr. [redacted] decided to...

agree to our terms by signing our contract via electronic (also optional as the physical agreement was also mail-delivered to him) After our firm initiated the recovery of his claim, he successfully recovered his funds and he now refuses to pay the fee he agreed to upon signing our agreement. In response to his requests, 1) Our fee will not be waived as he did receive the funds in question. 2) All contact with him will cease upon our collection of all fees due. 3 & 4) Our business model is set by our firm based on government regulations. We cannot take responsibility of his assumptions as our contact describes the service provided as well as our fees involved. It is the individual's responsibility to review any document prior to signing and/or ask questions if necessary.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2016/03/08) */
Mr. [redacted] went to our website and e-signed an agreement with our firm to assist him in the recovery of the unclaimed funds sitting in the State of Texas. After receiving the signed agreement on 2/16/2017 we requested the claim form #XXXXXXXX on...

2/17/2016 in Mr. [redacted]'s behalf. On 2/23/2016 we received an email from Mr. [redacted] asking us to drop the claim because he had already filed with the State of Texas for the unclaimed property. Mr. [redacted] was advised that if the claim form we requested on his behalf was submitted to the state then he would be liable for our fee via email. We received another email from Mr. [redacted] that he would take legal action against us if we enforced the fee. Again it was explained that if he uses the form provide by our firm then the fee would be due and payable. Mr. [redacted] was also informed that if he initiated the claim prior to our notification, then he could send the proof to our firm and we would cancel the contract. So far we have not received this proof from Mr. [redacted]. It seems that after Mr. [redacted] received our information as to where the funds were being held, he now longer wants to use the services he agreed to. If Mr. [redacted] will send the proof that was asked of him, then the contract will be canceled. If Mr. [redacted] uses the claim form we requested on his behalf then our fee will be due and payable. If any further information is needed of questions answered please contact our firm.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/07/07) */
Our firm mailed out a notification to Ms. [redacted] offering our assistance in the recovery of a claim that is available for her to collect for a fee. Our service offer is like any other where the individual has the option to accept or simply...

disregard the notification received. Her accusation of fraud is purposeless as the claim is legitimate and it's been available to collect since 2008. We are fully licensed and regulated by the proper authorities and she can verify it at any time. Ms. [redacted] has not taken the time to contact our firm for any further information or clarification of her concerns. She is stating that our fee is non-refundable and that is incorrect. Our service is guaranteed and if the individual's claim is denied, our fee is fully refundable as stated on our notification. We will remove her information from our system to avoid any further notifications however the claim will be there until collected by her or her heirs.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/06) */
[redacted],
I am emailing my response to the above mentioned case number so that I can attach documents.
On August 18, 2014 we received an e-signed agreement from [redacted] on our website. On August 19, 2015 we requested the claim form...

#XXXXXXXX directly from the State of Texas on Mr. [redacted]'s behalf. When our company request the claim form from Texas, there is a unique identifying number assigned to that claim form only. Each time a claim form is requested there is another number assigned to that claim form. We requested the forms three times on Mr. [redacted]'s behalf. The first time was August 19, 2014 #XXXXXXXX, September 17, 2014 #XXXXXXXX and on October 14, 2014. The State of Texas sends these forms direct to the client and the client fills out the forms and sends the required documents directly back to the state. Mr. [redacted] submitted the claim form #XXXXXXXX, which was the second one we requested, and the claim paid out on this form on 6/8/2015. We have performed all of the services that Mr. [redacted] agreed to pay our company for. I have attached a copy of the agreement and also the status report from Texas showing the claim number that was paid to Mr. [redacted]. If you or Mr. [redacted] has any further questions please contact our firm.
[redacted]
Director of Operations
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/07/07) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
First and foremost, I DID NOT electronically sign any type of agreement with your company. I visited your webpage, and immediately left when I figured out that it was a scam. I have found similar complaints about your company pulling this scam on other people, and frankly I find it appalling. Second, a unique number is not assigned each time you request a claim form. Get the facts straight: there were two claims for two separate and unique unclaimed properties. The rep from the Texas Comptrollers Office merged these two properties under claim #XXXXXXXX when I called them to make the payout easier. Third, you DID NOT earn a 10% fee of my unclaimed properties, as you DID NOT provide any of the services that you state on your agreement that I DID NOT sign. I went straight to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts website (https://mycpa.cpa.state.tx.us/up/Search.jsp), searched for unclaimed property, called their office, faxed them the drivers license they required, and they issued my check the very next day. You did absolutely nothing. I DID NOT submit any claim forms - I called the Texas Comptrollers Office on 5/28/15, and worked with a representative named JoCarol Bradshaw. I provided the information she needed over the phone, and faxed a copy of the Drivers License to her attention at XXX-XXX-XXXX. I have the fax confirmation and phone records to prove this. No claim forms were required, as the company who turned over the unclaimed properties provided all the other necessary information needed for their records. You DID NOT help in processing the claim or updating the claim status. This was also done by Ms. Bradshaw, at the Texas Comptrollers Office. So, based on the agreement that I DID NOT sign, you have not performed any of the services that you claim entitle you to 10% of my unclaimed property refund. I fully expect you to void this invoice immediately.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/07/06) */
We have sent a notification to alert Mrs. [redacted]'s husband of his unclaimed property claim and offered our service in the retrieval of the funds for a fee. He agreed to our terms and fees by signing our agreement on 2/17/16. Our firm then...

initiated the recovery process of his claim and there was never a request for cancellation to our firm by either her or her husband. The claim was paid out to him and we mailed out our invoice to collect our fee as agreed. After our final invoice to him, Mrs. [redacted] got involved and stated that she had done all the work herself. We then informed her to submit verification of the claim she filed. We were willing to review and disregard the agreement if she was able to submit verification that she initiated the claim PRIOR TO OUR AGREEMENT. She then submitted a copy of the check her husband received which clearly indicated the reference number assigned to the claim we had filed. Mrs. [redacted] made multiple phone calls to our firm trying to get the fee waived and we explained the process to her numerous times and well as the terms of the agreement her husband had signed. In addition, our agreement clearly specifies that the owner is to work exclusively with our firm during the recovery of the claim therefore any attempt to file a separate claim will be a breach of our legal binding agreement. Until now we have not received any legitimate verification of the claim initiated by her as she states and therefore our fees are due.

Our firm successfully assisted Mr. [redacted] in the recovery
of a claim and failed to remit payment to our office after 3 different notices
were sent out including follow up emails. It is our company’s policy to refer any
unpaid accounts to a collection agency for the retrieval of the fees due....

Mr.
[redacted] did not contact our office at any time regarding payment arrangements
otherwise we would have been able to work with him. He eventually paid the fees
but unfortunately not in a timely manner and therefore his credit was affected.
He is more than welcome to contact the collection agency for any inquiries regarding
the information reported to the Credit Bureaus on this account.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/06/14) */
Dear [redacted],
I have reviewed your claim and according to our records we did receive a physically signed agreement from you giving us authorization to assist you in the recovery of your claim. We did initiate the claim on May 2nd and...

based on your previous call to our company we have confirmed with the State of Texas that there was multiple claim forms ordered for the same claim and your claim was processed prior to ours. You may disregard the invoice; we have updated our system and you should not receive any further billing notices. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. Should you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact us.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2016/06/15) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Thank for resolving this matter in a timely fashion. I'm sorry that when I called Joseph Richards and [redacted]. first I could not resolve the issue with them without having to contact Revdex.com.

According to our records Mrs. [redacted]’s claim is currently
being processed. Her claim documentation was just received this month and the
processing time takes approximately 90 days. She should be able to contact our office
and inquire about her claim during business hours Monday-Friday from 8:00...

am to
4:30 pm PST or via electronically. As she is located in the State of Indiana and
our office is based in California, the time difference is 3 hours. She is required
to wait adequate timing to complete the process of her claim. Upon approval,
the check is mailed directly to her for the full amount and she will then receive
an invoice for our fee.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/09/14) */
[redacted],
I apologize for the delay in answering this complaint but I have been out of the office. As you can see from the attached signed agreement Ms. [redacted] was aware of the fee our firm charges to assist in the recovery of funds for a...

client. We received the signed agreement on 6/19/2015 for Ms. [redacted] and requested the claim form on her behalf by sending the original agreement to the State of Kentucky, as we are required to do. On 7/17/2015 a voicemail was left for Ms. [redacted] informing her of the state's requirements for proof of her identity. Ms. [redacted] called our office on 8/28/2015 demanding that we release the claim so that she could collect it on her own and not have to pay our fee. It was explained to Ms. [redacted] that we were the firm that alerted her to these funds and that she did not have to sign the agreement for us to assist her; she could have done the research on her own at the beginning. We explained that we would not release the claim since we had performed the services for which she agreed to pay our firm and there is not a valid reason for us to do so. Ms. [redacted] was also told that if she was uncomfortable sending the required proof to our firm she could send it directly to the State of Kentucky. Ms. [redacted] then made some remarks concerning the integrity of our firm. Evidently, after receiving all of the information that we provided her with, she has decided that she does not want to pay our firm the fee she agreed to. When we receive the check from the State of Kentucky, we will immediately forward the remaining balance to Ms. [redacted]. If you or Ms. [redacted] have any further questions or concerns, please contact our firm.
[redacted]
Director of Operations

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2016/03/24) */
In response to the complaint received from Mr. [redacted]. In searching our data base on Mr. [redacted]'s account, I do not find where our representatives have spoken with Mr. [redacted]. Our system has to be noted when any of our representatives speak with a...

customer. I do see where Mr. [redacted] called for the first time on 9/11/2015, we received the signed agreement by certified mail on 9/22/2015, claim form was requested on 9/22/2015 and the forms were mailed to Mr. [redacted] on 9/23/2015. We then received the paperwork back from Mr. [redacted] on 10/9/2015 but did not receive all of the requested items from him. We sent out a letter of the items that were missing from his paperwork on 10/12/2015 and again on 3/9/2016. There has been no further correspondence or telephones conversations with Mr. [redacted] noted on our data base until we received the complaint. If Mr. [redacted] would like to call X-XXX-XXX-XXXX and ask to speak with our Claims Representative Administrator, [redacted] she would be more than happy to assist Mr. [redacted] in resolving this matter. If you have any further concerns, please contact our firm.