National Tax Experts NATIONAL TAX EXPERTS -- SCAM ARTISTS AND THIEVES! Woodland Hills California

I received a mail solicitation from National Tax Experts after receiving a tax lien from the California FTB. I called them on 12/15/2014, and spoke with a representative named Michael Dean.

Mr. Dean promised the following to me:

(1) To address the immediate tax lien

(2) To prepare and file all my unfiled tax returns, with both the IRS and FTB, from prior years (at least four)

(3) To address any further tax liens and charges

(4) To place any tax obligations in uncollectible status

(5) To negotiate a payment plan, as and when possible, for me to pay my tax obligations

(6) For a total fee of $1,000, to be made in $200 monthly installments, the first to be made on 1/5/2015.

I agreed to these terms, and gave Mr. Dean my personal, contact and debit card information. I also emphasized specifically that my debit card could not be charged until the designated 1/5/2015 date, as I would not have adequate funds until that time. Mr. Dean assured me that I would not be charged the first $200 until 1/5/2015. He also stated that National Tax Experts would file the appropriate documents with the FTB so that I wouldn't "need to worry" about the tax lien over the Christmas holiday.

At this point, we had a meeting of the minds, with consideration having been provided. We had a valid oral contract.

Several days later, I received written documents by email from Mr. Dean. Among them was an agreement for services. This agreement differed significantly from our prior oral agreement.

First, the written agreement set forth a payment schedule of $300 per month, for a total payment of $1,500.

Second, the written agreement made no mention of our prior oral agreement that National Tax Experts was obligated to prepare and file all my unfiled tax returns.

At my discovery of these discrepancies, I called Mr. Dean, and left him a voice message. I then made revisions to the written agreement, correcting the payment schedule and adding the provision to prepare and file all unfiled tax returns. I signed all the documents, and emailed them back to Mr. Dean. I also commented in my email that I was concerned about the fact that the written agreement did not properly reflect our oral agreement.

The next day, 12/20/2014, I experienced another bombshell. I received a notice from my bank that my account was overdrawn. When I checked my account, I discovered that on 12/19/2014, National Tax Experts put forth a charge to my debit account for $300. As it should be clear from my narrative, this charge was (1) unauthorized, (2) premature and (3) not in the correct amount. No charge was authorized until 1/5/2015, and then only in the amount of $200.

I immediately wrote back to Mr. Dean about this charge. The next day I received an email response stating that he was sorry for the "misunderstanding," and that he had attached a new written agreement that properly reflected our prior oral agreement. He also stated that National Tax Experts could not take any action on my behalf until they had "a payment." So much for Mr. Dean's promise that I would be protected over the Christmas holiday.

The new written agreement -- while correcting the payment schedule to $200 per month -- still did not contain the provision that National Tax Experts was obligated to prepare and file all my unfiled tax returns.

Once again, I wrote back to Mr. Dean, and asked him to send me a written agreement that ACCURATELY AND COMPLETELY reflected our oral agreement. I also demanded that he IMMEDIATELY reverse the charge to my debit account for the unauthorized $300 charge.

I have written to Mr. Dean two additional times since. He has not replied to my several emails. I let him know that ignoring the problem that he had created would not silence me. I let him know that I would seek redress against him and National Tax Experts by filing a BBB and other consumer complaint, as well as a lawsuit for fraud and breach-of-contract.

It is my considered opinion that NATIONAL TAX EXPERTS ARE NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF SCAM ARTISTS AND THIEVES!