Millennium Trust takes complaints seriously, and it is our goal to utilize all forms of feedback to continuously improve our services. We have fully investigated the issues you reported regarding your efforts to access and transfer your account. It does not appear that our records agree...
with the information you have reported to the Revdex.com. We have been in contact with you, and we have provided you with instructions on how to transfer your account. You are free to transfer your account at any time, as long as we receive the documents and information required for processing. First, we should clarify that we hold an individual retirement account (IRA) for you, not a 401(k). You were a participant in a 401(k) plan sponsored by your former employer. Most 401(k) plan documents contain language giving the plan sponsors authority to cash out or distribute funds for missing or unresponsive plan participants. Under certain circumstances, 401(k) plan sponsors may establish an IRA for a former employee participant and distribute that participant’s funds from the 401(k) to an IRA. Putting the funds into an IRA maintains the tax deferred status of those retirement assets until the rightful owner is located or is ready to direct other actions. In 2014, your 401(k) plan sponsor must have determined that you were either missing or unresponsive to the notices they sent to you regarding your 401(k) options; and therefore, your 401(k) plan sponsor established a rollover IRA for your benefit with Millennium Trust. During the establishment of your rollover IRA, Millennium Trust received the last known address on file with your 401(k) plan provider. We sent a welcome letter to you at this address in July 2014. The mail was not returned as undeliverable. In 2015, we ran your address through an address verification process and the results showed that you no longer lived at the last known address on record. In March 2016 we searched for you. We mailed a post card to you at an address discovered through our search processes. Our records show that you contacted us online in March 2016 in response to receiving that post card. That is the first record we have of receiving contact from you. Our records show that we called you on 3/18/16 and left a voicemail message. We do not show any record of receiving contact from you again until 5/5/16 at 5:47 PM. We called you back the next morning on 5/6/16 and provided outgoing transfer instructions and a link to our online account application. We followed up with you by phone and email on 5/6/16, and one of our representatives provided you with her direct phone line for anything else you might need. If you wish to take steps to transfer out your IRA, you should contact your new IRA provider and ask them how to proceed. They should have you complete a transfer form, which they will then sign and send to us for processing. We will then need to verify your identity, as required by law, before we can process your outgoing IRA transfer. For additional guidance on the process, please contact our client service representatives again by phone or email.
Millennium Trust takes complaints seriously, and we sincerely appreciate the time you took to address us. We have fully investigated the matters you reported to the Revdex.com. Our records show you submitted a distribution direction for a partial distribution of $4000 from your account on...
June 20, 2016, which we processed on June 21, 2016 by ACH to your bank. You elected a 10% withholding from the amount of the distribution, which reduced your payout by 10% or $400. On June 23, 2016, we received notice from the bank that your ACH was rejected. The ACH information you provided to us was incorrect, which caused it to be rejected. We informed you on June 23, 2016 that the ACH we sent was rejected and we needed a copy of a voided check to confirm your bank information in order to re-issue the ACH. You replied asking why your distribution had not been processed. The next day, June 24, 2016, we spoke to you on the phone and explained the situation. You admitted you did not list your bank account number on the form as required for processing ACH payments; this is why the ACH did not go through when we processed it using the numbers you provided. That day, we stayed in contact with you while your bank was trying to fax your information to us for ACH processing, and we then called your bank to obtain your account information for you. We processed your payment by ACH again on June 27, 2016 for the original amount you directed ($4000), minus the 10% federal withholding ($400); so you received $3600. Please note that you directed a partial distribution of your account for a specific dollar amount. You did not elect to take a complete distribution of your account and you entered a dollar amount that was less than the listed value of your account. You still have funds here and your account is still open. Perhaps these additional funds are the funds you thought were missing. If you wish to take the remaining funds and close your account, you may do so at any time by following the same process you followed on your first distribution. We thank you for your feedback, and we hope this information clears up any confusion regarding your funds. Please contact us if you wish to discuss your account details or direct any additional transactions.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/02/24) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted]
Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@mtrustcompany.com
Millennium Trust takes complaints seriously. We have investigated the issue reported and determined that the 1099-R was processed correctly. ...
In November 2014, we sent two written communications to our client regarding payouts made directly to him from a receivership and we explained that we were required to file 1099-R to report these payouts. Our client called us on December 28, 2014 and, unfortunately, although we tried, we were unsuccessful at reaching the client by return call. On February 18, 2015 we provided additional clarification to our client over the phone regarding the 1099-R that was issued. We believe we have now fully resolved the matter directly with our client.
After receiving notice of this complaint, we reviewed the account and saw that a resolution was already underway. We issued the client’s payment on April 12, 2017, and we shipped it to her via [redacted] overnight delivery free of charge. We did not have all the information and documents needed to...
complete the client’s distribution until March 27, 2017. This account has an annual account fee, which was charged upon account opening in December 2016; and the account did not lose any value during the time our client was working with us on her distribution.
This account was opened for our client by her former retirement plan provider on December 21, 2016. The address provided to us for our client was invalid, so we ran a search to find potential current addresses. Our search efforts were a success. As a result, we were able to quickly find and connect our client to her retirement funds. We first spoke to our client on January 31, 2017. At that time, we explained the options available to her with her IRA.
On March 9, 2017, we received the client’s IRA distribution form dated March 6, 2017. The form did not contain the client’s handwritten signature. A signature guarantee stamp was missing. The payment section was blank. The client had completed the “systematic payment” section in error. Systematic payments are a series of IRA payments made to a client; however, our client wanted a lump sum distribution. Our records indicate that we spoke to our client on March 9 and March 10 about the issues with the form.
On March 23, 2017, we received the client’s updated distribution form dated March 14, 2017. It contained her handwritten signature and a signature guarantee. For this type of account, the IRA owner’s identity has to be verified when the IRA owner takes control of the account, which occurred here when the IRA owner submitted her IRA distribution form. We requested a copy of her driver’s license to help verify her identity and confirm her current address, and we received a copy on March 24, 2017. On March 27, 2017, as we worked to complete the processing of her distribution, we noticed that the ABA# she provided was invalid. A payment cannot be processed with an invalid ABA#. We informed the client of this and also asked her to provide verification of her tax identification number, as it did not match the number provided to us to open the account. On April 10, 2017, we followed up to request a copy of the client’s social security card; and then we took additional actions to verify the social security number she provided. On April 11, 2017, we informed the client that she did not need to provide any additional documentation. We informed our client that we would overnight her payment to her, at no charge. We shipped her payment to her April 12, 2017, and we provided her with the tracking number for the shipment.
We actively try to find our missing clients quickly and reunite them with their retirement funds, and we did that here. We feel that we responded quickly to our client’s requests and direction for payment. We apologize for the last delay in processing as we were trying to resolve the discrepancy on the social security numbers, between March 27, 2017 and April 12, 2017. We did find an alternative solution to resolve the discrepancy. We hope this response and the completion of our client’s IRA distribution resolves the issues reported in the complaint. We wish our client the best, and we are happy to have reunited her with her retirement funds.
Millennium Trust takes complaints seriously, and we immediately reviewed your account in light of the issues you reported. You should now be in receipt of your funds, as we delivered them electronically to your bank on 2/10/17 [note that the receiving bank can take up to 72 hours to process...
and release electronically received funds]. On 2/13/17 we left a voicemail to you to confirm completion of the electronic delivery (ACH). We provided you with the ACH trace number and a direct phone number for one of our reps in case you had any questions or concerns. Your account at Millennium Trust was established for you on 12/26/16 by your former 401k plan provider. Our records show we spoke with you on 1/6/17 regarding how to distribute your account funds. We received your online distribution direction on 1/10/17. You elected to receive payment by check sent through regular USPS mail. A note online informed you that payments would ship approximately within 7 business days. We mailed your check on 1/12/17 (just 2 business days after your direction was received). The check was sent by first-class USPS mail to the address you provided. We have bank records and a copy of the check showing these transactions were completed. We are very sorry that you did not receive the check we mailed. We acknowledge that you contacted us on 1/20 and 1/24 stating that you still had not received the check. Once you notified us on 1/31 that you wanted to stop payment on the check, it took a week to process everything including the stop payment, the re-opening of your account, the transaction cancellations, and the full reversal all the funds back into your account. You submitted your electronic (ACH) distribution instructions to us on 2/7/17, and we processed your electronic disbursement on 2/10/17. We strive to provide excellent and timely service to all of our clients, and we want our clients to be connected to their retirement funds as quickly as possible. We provided very timely service processing on your original distribution by mailing a check to you in two days. We are very sorry the UPSP did not deliver your check, and it is unfortunate when something beyond our control creates a poor experience for our customer. The postal delivery problem resulted in delaying your access to your funds. Correcting for the USPS failure required additional processing that we had to complete before we could re-issue your payment by electronic delivery. We sincerely apologize that the events involved created a delay and a poor experience for you.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/12/11) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted]
Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@mtrustcompany.com
Millennium Trust Company ("MTC") takes complaints seriously. We have contacted our client and fully investigated the situation. We have...
informed our client that she needs to submit an IRA distribution form, which we provided to her by email on December 4, 2014. We have asked our client to contact us if she needs assistance in completing the form.
Our client's rollover IRA with Millennium Trust was established by her former 401(k) plan provider on May 23, 2012. The 401(k) plan provider selected the IRA solution at Millennium Trust and agreed to the fees to be charged for IRA services. The 401(k) plan provider's authority to take these actions and rollover plan funds to IRAs for missing or unresponsive participants should appear in our client's 401(k) plan documents, and such actions are generally allowed under laws and regulations concerning qualified retirement plans. Our client's former 401(k) provider was responsible for notifying her in advance of the rollover to Millennium Trust to provide her with some time to take other action if she did not want her funds to move into an IRA at Millennium Trust. As merely the IRA provider, Millennium Trust is not responsible for any actions, inactions or decisions of our client's 401(k) plan provider.
Our client service representatives received a call from our client on December 2, 2014 during which our client asked to speak to a supervisor. We asked her to provide us with her phone number so that we could have a supervisor call her back, but she refused to provide her phone number and instead stated that she would call us back. It appears that our client then chose to file a Revdex.com complaint. The Revdex.com complaint contained her phone number, so a supervisor called her and provided guidance to her regarding the documents she needs to submit to distribute her IRA retirement funds. We sent the form to her by email on December 4, 2014. We expect this should resolve the complaint.
After receiving notice of this complaint, we reviewed the account and saw that a resolution was already underway. We issued the client’s payment on April 12, 2017, and we shipped it to her via [redacted] overnight delivery free of charge. We did not have all the information and documents needed to complete the client’s distribution until March 27, 2017. This account has an annual account fee, which was charged upon account opening in December 2016; and the account did not lose any value during the time our client was working with us on her distribution.
This account was opened for our client by her former retirement plan provider on December 21, 2016. The address provided to us for our client was invalid, so we ran a search to find potential current addresses. Our search efforts were a success. As a result, we were able to quickly find and connect our client to her retirement funds. We first spoke to our client on January 31, 2017. At that time, we explained the options available to her with her IRA.
On March 9, 2017, we received the client’s IRA distribution form dated March 6, 2017. The form did not contain the client’s handwritten signature. A signature guarantee stamp was missing. The payment section was blank. The client had completed the “systematic payment” section in error. Systematic payments are a series of IRA payments made to a client; however, our client wanted a lump sum distribution. Our records indicate that we spoke to our client on March 9 and March 10 about the issues with the form.
On March 23, 2017, we received the client’s updated distribution form dated March 14, 2017. It contained her handwritten signature and a signature guarantee. For this type of account, the IRA owner’s identity has to be verified when the IRA owner takes control of the account, which occurred here when the IRA owner submitted her IRA distribution form. We requested a copy of her driver’s license to help verify her identity and confirm her current address, and we received a copy on March 24, 2017. On March 27, 2017, as we worked to complete the processing of her distribution, we noticed that the ABA# she provided was invalid. A payment cannot be processed with an invalid ABA#. We informed the client of this and also asked her to provide verification of her tax identification number, as it did not match the number provided to us to open the account. On April 10, 2017, we followed up to request a copy of the client’s social security card; and then we took additional actions to verify the social security number she provided. On April 11, 2017, we informed the client that she did not need to provide any additional documentation. We informed our client that we would overnight her payment to her, at no charge. We shipped her payment to her April 12, 2017, and we provided her with the tracking number for the shipment.
We actively try to find our missing clients quickly and reunite them with their retirement funds, and we did that here. We feel that we responded quickly to our client’s requests and direction for payment. We apologize for the last delay in processing as we were trying to resolve the discrepancy on the social security numbers, between March 27, 2017 and April 12, 2017. We did find an alternative solution to resolve the discrepancy. We hope this response and the completion of our client’s IRA distribution resolves the issues reported in the complaint. We wish our client the best, and we are happy to have reunited her with her retirement funds.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/11/20) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted] Compl Analyst
Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@mtrustcompany.com
Millennium Trust Company takes complaints seriously. It is our goal to use all forms of feedback to continuously improve our...
products and services. We have investigated the issue reported. Our records indicate that Millennium Trust has not been contacted by the client since August 19, 2013. Millennium Trust is now in the process of contacting our client in order to assist him with the process of closing his account.
Our client holds a receivership claim (an illiquid alternative asset) in his self-directed IRA. Payouts on receivership claims occur over time as the Receiver is able to make payments. A receivership claim cannot be "cashed out" unless the claim is sold to a third party. Additionally, in this particular situation, the Receiver informed us that they will not change the registered ownership of the claim and any future payments will continue to be made to the holder of record, which is Millennium Trust as IRA custodian. As we are unable to re-register the claim to our client, the claim has remained in our client's Millennium Trust account waiting for the receivership to make payouts or wind up.
If our client submits the distribution forms we require, we will distribute his receivership claim to him by assigning interest and close his IRA account. Distributing an IRA asset in this manner means that the value is reported on IRS Form 1099-R as having been received by the client at the time of the distribution - not at the time the payout is actually made in the future. While his receivership claim will remain registered in the name of the Millennium Trust IRA, Millennium Trust will forward future receivership payments to him as they are received. Processing fees for forwarding payments may apply.
We will continue working directly with our client to provide information on how he can close his account, and we believe this will resolve this situation to his satisfaction.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/11/23) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I would like to close this account but question how it can be legal to issue an IRS 1099 form when the value of the account is not known until the final payout is made. Surely I do not have to pay taxes on something of no value.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2014/12/04) */
We have continued to work directly with our client to assist him in closing his account, and we believe his remaining concerns have been addressed. As a directed IRA custodian, Millennium Trust does not provide valuation services for alternative assets (such as our client's receivership claim). It is the IRA owner's responsibility to provide Millennium Trust with the correct value to report to the IRS, pursuant to the terms of our client's IRA agreement. We have explained to our client that the value being reported for his receivership claim is the remaining unpaid amount of the approved claim. Millennium Trust has no way of knowing whether the remaining claim amount will be paid by the receivership. We have informed our client that he needs to provide a different value to us if he believes the value currently reported is incorrect.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/03/02) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted]
Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@mtrustcompany.com
Millennium Trust takes client complaints seriously, and it is our goal to utilize all forms of feedback to continuously improve our products...
and services. We have fully investigated the issues reported in the complaint. On February 26, 2015, we spoke with our client and she confirmed that she received the check we mailed to her on February 19, 2015.
Our client's rollover IRA with Millennium Trust was selected and established for her benefit by her former retirement plan provider on June 25, 2012. Millennium Trust placed the initial investment of the IRA funds into an interest bearing bank account, pursuant to the IRA rollover agreement. On July 10, 2012, Millennium Trust mailed a welcome kit to the address received for our client from our client's former retirement plan provider. Our welcome kit contained our IRA fee schedule and additional information on the IRA established for our client. The welcome kit was not returned to Millennium Trust as undeliverable.
Near the end of 2012, Millennium Trust ran its client addresses through a US Postal Service address verification process to determine which addresses were current. On December 24, 2012, our client's address was marked as invalid. Due to the outdated address, regularly scheduled future mailings were stopped in order to protect the client's account information.
On January 20, 2015, our client contacted us by phone. Millennium Trust is required by law to take steps to verify the identity of each client. For this type of rollover IRA, which was established by a third party for the IRA owner's benefit, we are required to verify the IRA owner's identity at the time the IRA owner takes control of the account. Millennium Trust has created an online distribution process that allows our IRA rollover clients the ability to easily direct an IRA distribution online. We provided assistance to our client over the phone with the online distribution process. Various security measures are built into the online distribution process, and when distributions cannot be completed online they can still be processed through paper forms. We emailed instructions and the distribution form to our client when she was unable to process her distribution request online.
We received our client's distribution paperwork on January 29, 2015, along with her updated address. We completed processing our client's IRA distribution on February 19, 2015. On February 26, 2015, we confirmed with our client that she had received the check. We regret that our client was unable to complete her IRA distribution processing online and we apologize for the inconvenience caused by the paper processing. As we have now completed our client's distribution and she has confirmed receipt of her funds, we believe this should resolve our client's complaint.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2015/03/06) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
They outlined the reason for the initial complaint per their phone records. They neglected to explain why the time frame from their respone of, "We received our client's distribution paperwork on January 29, 2015, along with her updated address. We completed processing our client's IRA distribution on February 19, 2015." I still believe they made the distribution process more difficult in order to hold the funds until they could earn more interest. Nor did they explain why I lost money since the initial deposit made two years ealier. I am happy to have received my check.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 12, 2015/03/12) */
We listen to our clients and strive to make improvements. We created an online distribution process some time ago in response to our clients' needs for faster distribution processing. Today, the majority of our clients successfully move straight through our online distribution process. Unfortunately, this client failed the online identity verification steps and had to be moved to a manual distribution process. This required us to take additional steps to verify our client's identity and her new address. In no way was our client's distribution delayed intentionally or on purpose, and such a claim by our client is completely without merit.
Millennium Trust is not a bank. Millennium Trust holds cash funds for IRAs at a bank in an interest-bearing bank demand account. During the 2-1/2 years we provided IRA services to this client, IRA service fees were deducted from the client's account as agreed upon when her former employer created this account for her. We have reviewed the fees and confirmed that they were correctly charged.
As our client did not direct any investments for her account, her cash funds remained in an interest-bearing bank demand account. The full net amount of interest earned for January was credited to our client's account prior to the completion of her distribution. An additional $0.09 in interest was earned on the funds during February 2015 and taken as a closing fee, pursuant to the fees agreed upon when the account was created.
Our client's distribution took longer to complete because she failed the online identity verification process and additional steps had to be taken to verify her identity and her new address. We processed our client's distribution as we previously informed her, and our client has already confirmed through the Revdex.com that she has received her funds. We have reviewed the account and confirmed that the IRA fees were correctly charged. We hope this resolves our client's concerns, and we wish her the best with her future retirement planning.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/06) */
Contact Name and Title: Sharon [redacted], Compl Analyst
Contact Phone: [redacted]
Contact Email: s[redacted]@mtrustcompany.com
Millennium Trust takes complaints seriously and it is our goal to utilize all forms of feedback to continuously improve our...
products and services. Our clients' satisfaction is our number one goal. We have fully investigated the issue reported. We did ship our client's card by overnight delivery after processing, but it appears there was some confusion about the shipping date. As with any online order, processing is required before shipping occurs. Processing can sometimes take a few business days to complete, as it did here. We did not provide an option for overnight processing. We only provided the option to ship by regular mail or overnight after processing. We have contacted our client and confirmed that she received her card on July 31, 2015. We believe we have now resolved the issue with her directly.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/11/14) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted] VP
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@mtrustcompany.com
Millennium Trust takes complaints seriously and it is our goal to utilize all forms of feedback to continuously improve our...
products and services. Our clients' satisfaction is our number one goal. We have fully investigated the issue reported by our client and have resolved this issue directly with her. We apologize for the inconvenience that our client experienced and we expect that the complaint is now resolved.
We care about our clients, and we immediately reviewed your account once we received notice of your issue. As you wrote, your account was established at Millennium Trust for you in 2005. Your account was invested in a money market account. Annual service fees were deducted...
according to our agreement with the plan provider who established your account for you. We can provide you with a history of your account, including interest payments and fees, if you would wish. If you had maintained current contact information with your prior plan, they should have notified you before they established your account with us. Our records indicate that they may not have had current contact information for you, because we searched for you for years before we found you. We conducted searches and sent notices to the best potential addresses for you in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2016. You responded to our search effort notice in 2016, and we were then in contact with you by phone and email. You submitted an online distribution form to us, but your last name did not match the name on the account. At the end of the online process, you were asked to provide documents to verify your name change and confirm your identity. We sent a follow up email to you asking for name verification documents, but we did not receive a response. We received your calls and we called you back, but there was no voicemail set up. As a gesture of good faith, we have already talked to you about reversing some prior fees, and we believe you were happy with this resolution. Please continue to work with our reps directly so that we can finish verifying your identity and promptly complete your distribution. Please understand that laws under the US Patriot Act require us to verify the identity of every client before allowing them to take control of their accounts. We want to get your funds to you as quickly as possible, but we need your help with identity verification before we can complete the process. We wish you the best in your future retirement planning.
We are very sorry for the confusion about the fees involved with trading your account. We had resolved the trading fees in part with you in August 2017, and we had agreed at that time to waive the fees that would occur when you decided to sell your assets. We have now reached out...
to you directly as you requested through the Revdex.com, and we believe we’ve now resolved all the fee issues to your satisfaction. Your account was established for you at Millennium Trust in 2013 by your former retirement plan provider. Your former plan provider should have provided you with notice prior to rolling your funds to Millennium Trust. Once your account opened with us, we sent a packet to you explaining your options and providing a fee schedule. Your funds were initially invested in a money market account at the direction of your former retirement plan provider, and you were to direct the investments once you took control of the account. Our records show that you contacted us in 2013 intending to transfer out your account. Our records show that we never received a transfer form from your new provider and that we informed you of this in 2013 and again in 2014. In July 2017, you contacted us and asked how much it would cost to continue the account. We informed you of the annual account fee. You then completed the online form to take control of your account, during which a full fee schedule was provided to you. You began investing your account in July 2017 in traditional investments. We spoke to you in August regarding the confusion about the fees involved, and at that time we agreed to waive the transaction fees. We contacted you after receiving this complaint, and we agreed to credit you with the brokerage fees as a gesture of good faith. We believe we have fully resolved all issues, and we have provided you with direct contact to one of our managers in case you have any remaining questions or concerns. We wish you the best as you invest your retirement savings!
Millennium Trust takes complaints seriously, and it is our goal to utilize all forms of feedback to continuously improve our services. We have fully investigated the issues you reported regarding your efforts to access and transfer your account. It does not appear that our records agree...
with the information you have reported to the Revdex.com. We have been in contact with you, and we have provided you with instructions on how to transfer your account. You are free to transfer your account at any time, as long as we receive the documents and information required for processing. First, we should clarify that we hold an individual retirement account (IRA) for you, not a 401(k). You were a participant in a 401(k) plan sponsored by your former employer. Most 401(k) plan documents contain language giving the plan sponsors authority to cash out or distribute funds for missing or unresponsive plan participants. Under certain circumstances, 401(k) plan sponsors may establish an IRA for a former employee participant and distribute that participant’s funds from the 401(k) to an IRA. Putting the funds into an IRA maintains the tax deferred status of those retirement assets until the rightful owner is located or is ready to direct other actions. In 2014, your 401(k) plan sponsor must have determined that you were either missing or unresponsive to the notices they sent to you regarding your 401(k) options; and therefore, your 401(k) plan sponsor established a rollover IRA for your benefit with Millennium Trust. During the establishment of your rollover IRA, Millennium Trust received the last known address on file with your 401(k) plan provider. We sent a welcome letter to you at this address in July 2014. The mail was not returned as undeliverable. In 2015, we ran your address through an address verification process and the results showed that you no longer lived at the last known address on record. In March 2016 we searched for you. We mailed a post card to you at an address discovered through our search processes. Our records show that you contacted us online in March 2016 in response to receiving that post card. That is the first record we have of receiving contact from you. Our records show that we called you on 3/18/16 and left a voicemail message. We do not show any record of receiving contact from you again until 5/5/16 at 5:47 PM. We called you back the next morning on 5/6/16 and provided outgoing transfer instructions and a link to our online account application. We followed up with you by phone and email on 5/6/16, and one of our representatives provided you with her direct phone line for anything else you might need. If you wish to take steps to transfer out your IRA, you should contact your new IRA provider and ask them how to proceed. They should have you complete a transfer form, which they will then sign and send to us for processing. We will then need to verify your identity, as required by law, before we can process your outgoing IRA transfer. For additional guidance on the process, please contact our client service representatives again by phone or email.
Millennium Trust takes complaints seriously, and we sincerely appreciate the time you took to address us. We have fully investigated the matters you reported to the Revdex.com. Our records show you submitted a distribution direction for a partial distribution of $4000 from your account on...
June 20, 2016, which we processed on June 21, 2016 by ACH to your bank. You elected a 10% withholding from the amount of the distribution, which reduced your payout by 10% or $400. On June 23, 2016, we received notice from the bank that your ACH was rejected. The ACH information you provided to us was incorrect, which caused it to be rejected. We informed you on June 23, 2016 that the ACH we sent was rejected and we needed a copy of a voided check to confirm your bank information in order to re-issue the ACH. You replied asking why your distribution had not been processed. The next day, June 24, 2016, we spoke to you on the phone and explained the situation. You admitted you did not list your bank account number on the form as required for processing ACH payments; this is why the ACH did not go through when we processed it using the numbers you provided. That day, we stayed in contact with you while your bank was trying to fax your information to us for ACH processing, and we then called your bank to obtain your account information for you. We processed your payment by ACH again on June 27, 2016 for the original amount you directed ($4000), minus the 10% federal withholding ($400); so you received $3600. Please note that you directed a partial distribution of your account for a specific dollar amount. You did not elect to take a complete distribution of your account and you entered a dollar amount that was less than the listed value of your account. You still have funds here and your account is still open. Perhaps these additional funds are the funds you thought were missing. If you wish to take the remaining funds and close your account, you may do so at any time by following the same process you followed on your first distribution. We thank you for your feedback, and we hope this information clears up any confusion regarding your funds. Please contact us if you wish to discuss your account details or direct any additional transactions.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/02/24) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted]
Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@mtrustcompany.com
Millennium Trust takes complaints seriously. We have investigated the issue reported and determined that the 1099-R was processed correctly. ...
In November 2014, we sent two written communications to our client regarding payouts made directly to him from a receivership and we explained that we were required to file 1099-R to report these payouts. Our client called us on December 28, 2014 and, unfortunately, although we tried, we were unsuccessful at reaching the client by return call. On February 18, 2015 we provided additional clarification to our client over the phone regarding the 1099-R that was issued. We believe we have now fully resolved the matter directly with our client.
After receiving notice of this complaint, we reviewed the account and saw that a resolution was already underway. We issued the client’s payment on April 12, 2017, and we shipped it to her via [redacted] overnight delivery free of charge. We did not have all the information and documents needed to...
complete the client’s distribution until March 27, 2017. This account has an annual account fee, which was charged upon account opening in December 2016; and the account did not lose any value during the time our client was working with us on her distribution.
This account was opened for our client by her former retirement plan provider on December 21, 2016. The address provided to us for our client was invalid, so we ran a search to find potential current addresses. Our search efforts were a success. As a result, we were able to quickly find and connect our client to her retirement funds. We first spoke to our client on January 31, 2017. At that time, we explained the options available to her with her IRA.
On March 9, 2017, we received the client’s IRA distribution form dated March 6, 2017. The form did not contain the client’s handwritten signature. A signature guarantee stamp was missing. The payment section was blank. The client had completed the “systematic payment” section in error. Systematic payments are a series of IRA payments made to a client; however, our client wanted a lump sum distribution. Our records indicate that we spoke to our client on March 9 and March 10 about the issues with the form.
On March 23, 2017, we received the client’s updated distribution form dated March 14, 2017. It contained her handwritten signature and a signature guarantee. For this type of account, the IRA owner’s identity has to be verified when the IRA owner takes control of the account, which occurred here when the IRA owner submitted her IRA distribution form. We requested a copy of her driver’s license to help verify her identity and confirm her current address, and we received a copy on March 24, 2017. On March 27, 2017, as we worked to complete the processing of her distribution, we noticed that the ABA# she provided was invalid. A payment cannot be processed with an invalid ABA#. We informed the client of this and also asked her to provide verification of her tax identification number, as it did not match the number provided to us to open the account. On April 10, 2017, we followed up to request a copy of the client’s social security card; and then we took additional actions to verify the social security number she provided. On April 11, 2017, we informed the client that she did not need to provide any additional documentation. We informed our client that we would overnight her payment to her, at no charge. We shipped her payment to her April 12, 2017, and we provided her with the tracking number for the shipment.
We actively try to find our missing clients quickly and reunite them with their retirement funds, and we did that here. We feel that we responded quickly to our client’s requests and direction for payment. We apologize for the last delay in processing as we were trying to resolve the discrepancy on the social security numbers, between March 27, 2017 and April 12, 2017. We did find an alternative solution to resolve the discrepancy. We hope this response and the completion of our client’s IRA distribution resolves the issues reported in the complaint. We wish our client the best, and we are happy to have reunited her with her retirement funds.
Millennium Trust takes complaints seriously, and we immediately reviewed your account in light of the issues you reported. You should now be in receipt of your funds, as we delivered them electronically to your bank on 2/10/17 [note that the receiving bank can take up to 72 hours to process...
and release electronically received funds]. On 2/13/17 we left a voicemail to you to confirm completion of the electronic delivery (ACH). We provided you with the ACH trace number and a direct phone number for one of our reps in case you had any questions or concerns. Your account at Millennium Trust was established for you on 12/26/16 by your former 401k plan provider. Our records show we spoke with you on 1/6/17 regarding how to distribute your account funds. We received your online distribution direction on 1/10/17. You elected to receive payment by check sent through regular USPS mail. A note online informed you that payments would ship approximately within 7 business days. We mailed your check on 1/12/17 (just 2 business days after your direction was received). The check was sent by first-class USPS mail to the address you provided. We have bank records and a copy of the check showing these transactions were completed. We are very sorry that you did not receive the check we mailed. We acknowledge that you contacted us on 1/20 and 1/24 stating that you still had not received the check. Once you notified us on 1/31 that you wanted to stop payment on the check, it took a week to process everything including the stop payment, the re-opening of your account, the transaction cancellations, and the full reversal all the funds back into your account. You submitted your electronic (ACH) distribution instructions to us on 2/7/17, and we processed your electronic disbursement on 2/10/17. We strive to provide excellent and timely service to all of our clients, and we want our clients to be connected to their retirement funds as quickly as possible. We provided very timely service processing on your original distribution by mailing a check to you in two days. We are very sorry the UPSP did not deliver your check, and it is unfortunate when something beyond our control creates a poor experience for our customer. The postal delivery problem resulted in delaying your access to your funds. Correcting for the USPS failure required additional processing that we had to complete before we could re-issue your payment by electronic delivery. We sincerely apologize that the events involved created a delay and a poor experience for you.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/12/11) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted]
Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@mtrustcompany.com
Millennium Trust Company ("MTC") takes complaints seriously. We have contacted our client and fully investigated the situation. We have...
informed our client that she needs to submit an IRA distribution form, which we provided to her by email on December 4, 2014. We have asked our client to contact us if she needs assistance in completing the form.
Our client's rollover IRA with Millennium Trust was established by her former 401(k) plan provider on May 23, 2012. The 401(k) plan provider selected the IRA solution at Millennium Trust and agreed to the fees to be charged for IRA services. The 401(k) plan provider's authority to take these actions and rollover plan funds to IRAs for missing or unresponsive participants should appear in our client's 401(k) plan documents, and such actions are generally allowed under laws and regulations concerning qualified retirement plans. Our client's former 401(k) provider was responsible for notifying her in advance of the rollover to Millennium Trust to provide her with some time to take other action if she did not want her funds to move into an IRA at Millennium Trust. As merely the IRA provider, Millennium Trust is not responsible for any actions, inactions or decisions of our client's 401(k) plan provider.
Our client service representatives received a call from our client on December 2, 2014 during which our client asked to speak to a supervisor. We asked her to provide us with her phone number so that we could have a supervisor call her back, but she refused to provide her phone number and instead stated that she would call us back. It appears that our client then chose to file a Revdex.com complaint. The Revdex.com complaint contained her phone number, so a supervisor called her and provided guidance to her regarding the documents she needs to submit to distribute her IRA retirement funds. We sent the form to her by email on December 4, 2014. We expect this should resolve the complaint.
After receiving notice of this complaint, we reviewed the account and saw that a resolution was already underway. We issued the client’s payment on April 12, 2017, and we shipped it to her via [redacted] overnight delivery free of charge. We did not have all the information and documents needed to complete the client’s distribution until March 27, 2017. This account has an annual account fee, which was charged upon account opening in December 2016; and the account did not lose any value during the time our client was working with us on her distribution.
This account was opened for our client by her former retirement plan provider on December 21, 2016. The address provided to us for our client was invalid, so we ran a search to find potential current addresses. Our search efforts were a success. As a result, we were able to quickly find and connect our client to her retirement funds. We first spoke to our client on January 31, 2017. At that time, we explained the options available to her with her IRA.
On March 9, 2017, we received the client’s IRA distribution form dated March 6, 2017. The form did not contain the client’s handwritten signature. A signature guarantee stamp was missing. The payment section was blank. The client had completed the “systematic payment” section in error. Systematic payments are a series of IRA payments made to a client; however, our client wanted a lump sum distribution. Our records indicate that we spoke to our client on March 9 and March 10 about the issues with the form.
On March 23, 2017, we received the client’s updated distribution form dated March 14, 2017. It contained her handwritten signature and a signature guarantee. For this type of account, the IRA owner’s identity has to be verified when the IRA owner takes control of the account, which occurred here when the IRA owner submitted her IRA distribution form. We requested a copy of her driver’s license to help verify her identity and confirm her current address, and we received a copy on March 24, 2017. On March 27, 2017, as we worked to complete the processing of her distribution, we noticed that the ABA# she provided was invalid. A payment cannot be processed with an invalid ABA#. We informed the client of this and also asked her to provide verification of her tax identification number, as it did not match the number provided to us to open the account. On April 10, 2017, we followed up to request a copy of the client’s social security card; and then we took additional actions to verify the social security number she provided. On April 11, 2017, we informed the client that she did not need to provide any additional documentation. We informed our client that we would overnight her payment to her, at no charge. We shipped her payment to her April 12, 2017, and we provided her with the tracking number for the shipment.
We actively try to find our missing clients quickly and reunite them with their retirement funds, and we did that here. We feel that we responded quickly to our client’s requests and direction for payment. We apologize for the last delay in processing as we were trying to resolve the discrepancy on the social security numbers, between March 27, 2017 and April 12, 2017. We did find an alternative solution to resolve the discrepancy. We hope this response and the completion of our client’s IRA distribution resolves the issues reported in the complaint. We wish our client the best, and we are happy to have reunited her with her retirement funds.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/11/20) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted] Compl Analyst
Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@mtrustcompany.com
Millennium Trust Company takes complaints seriously. It is our goal to use all forms of feedback to continuously improve our...
products and services. We have investigated the issue reported. Our records indicate that Millennium Trust has not been contacted by the client since August 19, 2013. Millennium Trust is now in the process of contacting our client in order to assist him with the process of closing his account.
Our client holds a receivership claim (an illiquid alternative asset) in his self-directed IRA. Payouts on receivership claims occur over time as the Receiver is able to make payments. A receivership claim cannot be "cashed out" unless the claim is sold to a third party. Additionally, in this particular situation, the Receiver informed us that they will not change the registered ownership of the claim and any future payments will continue to be made to the holder of record, which is Millennium Trust as IRA custodian. As we are unable to re-register the claim to our client, the claim has remained in our client's Millennium Trust account waiting for the receivership to make payouts or wind up.
If our client submits the distribution forms we require, we will distribute his receivership claim to him by assigning interest and close his IRA account. Distributing an IRA asset in this manner means that the value is reported on IRS Form 1099-R as having been received by the client at the time of the distribution - not at the time the payout is actually made in the future. While his receivership claim will remain registered in the name of the Millennium Trust IRA, Millennium Trust will forward future receivership payments to him as they are received. Processing fees for forwarding payments may apply.
We will continue working directly with our client to provide information on how he can close his account, and we believe this will resolve this situation to his satisfaction.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/11/23) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I would like to close this account but question how it can be legal to issue an IRS 1099 form when the value of the account is not known until the final payout is made. Surely I do not have to pay taxes on something of no value.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2014/12/04) */
We have continued to work directly with our client to assist him in closing his account, and we believe his remaining concerns have been addressed. As a directed IRA custodian, Millennium Trust does not provide valuation services for alternative assets (such as our client's receivership claim). It is the IRA owner's responsibility to provide Millennium Trust with the correct value to report to the IRS, pursuant to the terms of our client's IRA agreement. We have explained to our client that the value being reported for his receivership claim is the remaining unpaid amount of the approved claim. Millennium Trust has no way of knowing whether the remaining claim amount will be paid by the receivership. We have informed our client that he needs to provide a different value to us if he believes the value currently reported is incorrect.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2015/03/02) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted]
Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@mtrustcompany.com
Millennium Trust takes client complaints seriously, and it is our goal to utilize all forms of feedback to continuously improve our products...
and services. We have fully investigated the issues reported in the complaint. On February 26, 2015, we spoke with our client and she confirmed that she received the check we mailed to her on February 19, 2015.
Our client's rollover IRA with Millennium Trust was selected and established for her benefit by her former retirement plan provider on June 25, 2012. Millennium Trust placed the initial investment of the IRA funds into an interest bearing bank account, pursuant to the IRA rollover agreement. On July 10, 2012, Millennium Trust mailed a welcome kit to the address received for our client from our client's former retirement plan provider. Our welcome kit contained our IRA fee schedule and additional information on the IRA established for our client. The welcome kit was not returned to Millennium Trust as undeliverable.
Near the end of 2012, Millennium Trust ran its client addresses through a US Postal Service address verification process to determine which addresses were current. On December 24, 2012, our client's address was marked as invalid. Due to the outdated address, regularly scheduled future mailings were stopped in order to protect the client's account information.
On January 20, 2015, our client contacted us by phone. Millennium Trust is required by law to take steps to verify the identity of each client. For this type of rollover IRA, which was established by a third party for the IRA owner's benefit, we are required to verify the IRA owner's identity at the time the IRA owner takes control of the account. Millennium Trust has created an online distribution process that allows our IRA rollover clients the ability to easily direct an IRA distribution online. We provided assistance to our client over the phone with the online distribution process. Various security measures are built into the online distribution process, and when distributions cannot be completed online they can still be processed through paper forms. We emailed instructions and the distribution form to our client when she was unable to process her distribution request online.
We received our client's distribution paperwork on January 29, 2015, along with her updated address. We completed processing our client's IRA distribution on February 19, 2015. On February 26, 2015, we confirmed with our client that she had received the check. We regret that our client was unable to complete her IRA distribution processing online and we apologize for the inconvenience caused by the paper processing. As we have now completed our client's distribution and she has confirmed receipt of her funds, we believe this should resolve our client's complaint.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2015/03/06) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
They outlined the reason for the initial complaint per their phone records. They neglected to explain why the time frame from their respone of, "We received our client's distribution paperwork on January 29, 2015, along with her updated address. We completed processing our client's IRA distribution on February 19, 2015." I still believe they made the distribution process more difficult in order to hold the funds until they could earn more interest. Nor did they explain why I lost money since the initial deposit made two years ealier. I am happy to have received my check.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 12, 2015/03/12) */
We listen to our clients and strive to make improvements. We created an online distribution process some time ago in response to our clients' needs for faster distribution processing. Today, the majority of our clients successfully move straight through our online distribution process. Unfortunately, this client failed the online identity verification steps and had to be moved to a manual distribution process. This required us to take additional steps to verify our client's identity and her new address. In no way was our client's distribution delayed intentionally or on purpose, and such a claim by our client is completely without merit.
Millennium Trust is not a bank. Millennium Trust holds cash funds for IRAs at a bank in an interest-bearing bank demand account. During the 2-1/2 years we provided IRA services to this client, IRA service fees were deducted from the client's account as agreed upon when her former employer created this account for her. We have reviewed the fees and confirmed that they were correctly charged.
As our client did not direct any investments for her account, her cash funds remained in an interest-bearing bank demand account. The full net amount of interest earned for January was credited to our client's account prior to the completion of her distribution. An additional $0.09 in interest was earned on the funds during February 2015 and taken as a closing fee, pursuant to the fees agreed upon when the account was created.
Our client's distribution took longer to complete because she failed the online identity verification process and additional steps had to be taken to verify her identity and her new address. We processed our client's distribution as we previously informed her, and our client has already confirmed through the Revdex.com that she has received her funds. We have reviewed the account and confirmed that the IRA fees were correctly charged. We hope this resolves our client's concerns, and we wish her the best with her future retirement planning.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/06) */
Contact Name and Title: Sharon [redacted], Compl Analyst
Contact Phone: [redacted]
Contact Email: s[redacted]@mtrustcompany.com
Millennium Trust takes complaints seriously and it is our goal to utilize all forms of feedback to continuously improve our...
products and services. Our clients' satisfaction is our number one goal. We have fully investigated the issue reported. We did ship our client's card by overnight delivery after processing, but it appears there was some confusion about the shipping date. As with any online order, processing is required before shipping occurs. Processing can sometimes take a few business days to complete, as it did here. We did not provide an option for overnight processing. We only provided the option to ship by regular mail or overnight after processing. We have contacted our client and confirmed that she received her card on July 31, 2015. We believe we have now resolved the issue with her directly.
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/11/14) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted] VP
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@mtrustcompany.com
Millennium Trust takes complaints seriously and it is our goal to utilize all forms of feedback to continuously improve our...
products and services. Our clients' satisfaction is our number one goal. We have fully investigated the issue reported by our client and have resolved this issue directly with her. We apologize for the inconvenience that our client experienced and we expect that the complaint is now resolved.
We care about our clients, and we immediately reviewed your account once we received notice of your issue. As you wrote, your account was established at Millennium Trust for you in 2005. Your account was invested in a money market account. Annual service fees were deducted...
according to our agreement with the plan provider who established your account for you. We can provide you with a history of your account, including interest payments and fees, if you would wish. If you had maintained current contact information with your prior plan, they should have notified you before they established your account with us. Our records indicate that they may not have had current contact information for you, because we searched for you for years before we found you. We conducted searches and sent notices to the best potential addresses for you in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2016. You responded to our search effort notice in 2016, and we were then in contact with you by phone and email. You submitted an online distribution form to us, but your last name did not match the name on the account. At the end of the online process, you were asked to provide documents to verify your name change and confirm your identity. We sent a follow up email to you asking for name verification documents, but we did not receive a response. We received your calls and we called you back, but there was no voicemail set up. As a gesture of good faith, we have already talked to you about reversing some prior fees, and we believe you were happy with this resolution. Please continue to work with our reps directly so that we can finish verifying your identity and promptly complete your distribution. Please understand that laws under the US Patriot Act require us to verify the identity of every client before allowing them to take control of their accounts. We want to get your funds to you as quickly as possible, but we need your help with identity verification before we can complete the process. We wish you the best in your future retirement planning.
We are very sorry for the confusion about the fees involved with trading your account. We had resolved the trading fees in part with you in August 2017, and we had agreed at that time to waive the fees that would occur when you decided to sell your assets. We have now reached out...
to you directly as you requested through the Revdex.com, and we believe we’ve now resolved all the fee issues to your satisfaction. Your account was established for you at Millennium Trust in 2013 by your former retirement plan provider. Your former plan provider should have provided you with notice prior to rolling your funds to Millennium Trust. Once your account opened with us, we sent a packet to you explaining your options and providing a fee schedule. Your funds were initially invested in a money market account at the direction of your former retirement plan provider, and you were to direct the investments once you took control of the account. Our records show that you contacted us in 2013 intending to transfer out your account. Our records show that we never received a transfer form from your new provider and that we informed you of this in 2013 and again in 2014. In July 2017, you contacted us and asked how much it would cost to continue the account. We informed you of the annual account fee. You then completed the online form to take control of your account, during which a full fee schedule was provided to you. You began investing your account in July 2017 in traditional investments. We spoke to you in August regarding the confusion about the fees involved, and at that time we agreed to waive the transaction fees. We contacted you after receiving this complaint, and we agreed to credit you with the brokerage fees as a gesture of good faith. We believe we have fully resolved all issues, and we have provided you with direct contact to one of our managers in case you have any remaining questions or concerns. We wish you the best as you invest your retirement savings!