Roni Lynn Deutch Roni Lynn Deutch, Deceptive, Unprofessional, Completely Ineffective North Highlands California

I felt the need to post my experience with the Law Firm of Roni Lynn Deutch. 3 years ago, I was facing a large debt to the IRS as the result of a closed business in which we owed civil penalties for payroll taxes exceeding $30,000.

I received a letter from the IRS that they wanted to meet and possibly levy my assests (of which I had none to speak of except my paycheck) I had seen her commercials and called. I was told by the salesman (not an attorney, but just someone who closes the deal) that "You could go to jail for this." While this is of course a true statement, I found out later from both a reputable tax attorney and an Enrolled Agent that the chances of the IRS going to the expense of trying me for a $30,000 tax debt was the same as getting the death penalty for a speeding ticket. As long as I had a job and the ability to pay, They were not going to throw me in jail. But, I was scared and thier scare tactic worked.

I gave the salesman my information, he said I would qualify for an Offer In Comprimise and that it would be (about)$3,800 that I could pay off monthly. I gave him my check card info and "it" was on. "It" was the flurry of mail and faxes to and from their office. Financial statements, power of attorney and of course, the bill.

Once they had my complete financial information, I would go several weeks without hearing a word, but a day before the bill was due, I would get a phone call asking how I wanted to pay. I always ended up paying with my card over the phone, and if I was even one or two days late, They would inform me that my case could be dropped.

I would like to add here, that not ONCE, NEVER, did I actually speak to a real attorney. I would ask to and was infomed that the attorney handling my case was busy, I would ask for a call back, never got one. I always spoke to a non lawyer, I don't even know if the person was a paralegal, but for the money, I would like to have discussed it with an attorney.

After about 7 months, the IRS got tired of waiting for the offer to be submitted and garnished my pay for everything I made, minus about $700 a month. I panicked and called them. Still, no lawyer would talk to me. There was over a week to go before my next check. They said they would try and lower the garnishment. I waited...and waited. finally my payroll department said they would wait until the last minute to sumbit payroll in case the levy release came through. It didn't. For the next 2 weeks I had nothing, but Roni Deutch still wanted to be paid on time. I had no choice but to take out a payday loan to pay her bill. Finally, they got the levy reduced but I was still paying $850 a month. That took them 2 weeks to work out.

That garnishment came out for 3 months while my Offer was prepared (of course, I still owed them money, so as I found out, they would drag out the process until I had paid in full). FINALLY, at the end of the 3 months and with one payment to go to Roni Lynn Deutch, I am informed that I DO NOT QUALIFY for an Offer in Comprimise. I make too much money and I can only do a payment plan. The letter comes singed by a lawyer saying they have successfuly negotiated a payment on my behalf for $750 a month. I wasn't asked if that was OK, but the letter said their work was done and they weren't going to represent me anymore. I was dumbfounded! No consultation with me to see if I could live with that, just a letter saying where to send my payment and when it was due, oh, and that I owed one more payment to RLD.

I called the IRS, in 15 minutes....yes, only 15 minutes I got the payment to a more liveable level of $500 a month. I am not a lawyer or tax professional. Yet I accomplished in 15 minutes more than Roni Lynn Deutch's crew did in nearly 11 months! I called and spoke to Greg Flahive. I told him how dissatisfied I was and that I had negotiated a lower payment. He said, I shouldn't talk to the IRS because They can be deceptive and I could end up paying them for decades. (Statute of limitations is only 10 years) He generously waived my last payment and said that if I ever had a problem with the IRS I could call them and they would help me, at no further charge. Right. The only deception I encountered was through the Law office of Roni Lynn Deutch.

Last year I had to re-negotiate my payment plan. I hired a local tax professional, an Enrolled Agent here in Portland. He spoke to me in person, in his office. I told him of this experience. He took one look at my financial statement and said, you are not offerable. Not by a long shot. In other words, any real tax professional could take one look at my financials and see I don't qualify for an Offer in Comprimise, not even close. My tax debt would have to be in excess of $150,000 for me to qualify. The IRS wanted to take $2000 a month from me. He negotiated it to $675, in person with the Revenue Agent. This was all done in one week for the sum of $350.

I STRONGLY urge anyone who has a tax problem to NEVER Call any of these firms, especially Roni Lynn Deutch that claim to be able to settle your debt for "pennies on the dollar" Very precious few people can qualify for the new Offer in Comprimise. You practically have to be destitute and homeless with no job, or owe hundreds of thousands of dollars on a modest income. Find yourself a local professional licensed to practice before the IRS. A CPA or Enrolled Agent can do more for you in a fraction of the time for a fraction of the cost.

I doubt Roni Lynn Deutch will go out of business because of this site. Wishful thinking. Best case scenario is that she gets indicted for tax fraud or tax evasion. Who will she hire?

Jim
Hillsboro, Oregon
U.S.A.

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