Index
1. statement of facts
2. small claims notice
3. ad for free tax settlement analysis
4. engagement agreement
4a. disclosure packet
5. guarante & refund policy
6. certified mail receipt
7. copy of canceled check
8. copy of stop payment
9.1st correspondance cancellation & deposit return
10. response from j.K. Harris re. Financial hardship
11. account closure notice
12. e-mail re. Request for cancellation, account closure
13. case closure for unpaid balance
14. letter to attorney generals office
15.2nd case termination notice
16. j.K. Harrris response to attorneney generals office
17.2nd response to attorney generals office, same letter
18.3rd response to attorney generals office, same letter
19. attorney generals notices to j.K. Harrris
20. tax settlement analysis
21. correspondance to wgbh (channel5) consumer affairs
22. notices sent by attorney generals office
23. form 2848 given at free tax settlement analysis
24. form 2848 altered by j.K. Harris
25. motion to dismiss - wrong address
25a. certificate of service
26. answer to motion to dismiss
27. judgment for plaintiff
28. certified request for payment
Statement of facts
On August 25th I contacted the local office of J.K. Harris & Company based on their advertisement in the Salem News for a Free Tax Settlement Analysis, an appointment was made for August 2nd at 11: am.
Upon meeting with their representative, Miss Karen Berry I initially agreed to use their services. At that time I was given a Form 2848 (Pg. 21), and asked to sign and return.
The initial fee was to be $3,000 based on the number of years to settle with the IRS, and negotiation fee. On the original agreement there was an error that they made that they didn't notice. The fee should have been $2,900. ($2,300 600 = $2,900) (Pg 4). Upon discussion with my wife and further consideration I decided to cancel the contract based on their contract terms (Pg. 5, para. 5).
The corporate office was called on August 13th to cancel the contract, and to initiate a refund of my funds. I was told to send a letter (Pg. 9) requesting a refund.
J.K. Harris subsequently replied (Page 10), stating that Due to Financial Hardship they would close my case. (Page 10, Para 1). I did not cancel the contract due to financial hardship, (Pg. 9), and have not stated in any correspondence that there was any financial hardship. J.K. Harris insists on continuing to misrepresent and construe the facts (Pg. 21,3rd para). Once again referring to my letter of August 19th (Pg9).
After stating that they would close my case due to financial hardship, (Pg. 10, para 1, dated Aug 23 1). They subsequently sent me another letter, Account Closure due to Non Payment (Pg. 11, dated Aug 17), and threatened me that they would report me to three credit bureaus.
I subsequently sent them an e-mail on August 30th (Page 12) referencing their letters, and restating that I did not cancel due to financial hardship and pointing out that no where in their contract does it state that I have to give a reason to cancel. I also initiated a call to the arbitration board to try and arbitrate this dispute. I was unable to contact anyone, and left a message to contact me. Subsequently no contact was initiated by the arbitration company.
They subsequently set me another letter stating that they would Terminate my case. (Pg. 15 dated Sept 12) due to me ignoring their attempts to assist me. (Pg 15, para 2 dated 9/12/03). There is an answering machine at my home, and at no time did J.K. Harris try and contact me by leaving a message. This letter is almost three weeks after their initial letter stating my case was terminated.
On September 4th I contacted the Attorney Generals office to solicit help from their Consumer Affairs Division, to recover my funds. After sending out four letters to J.K. Harris Co., J.K. Harris responded by sending back copies of the same letter three times (Pages 16,17, 18, dated Oct 3).
The facts stated in that a letter have been misconstrued and dates manipulated;
Para 3, Line 1 Was sent a power of attorney
This was sent with the in "altered letter (Page 24)
Para 3, Line 2 Document needed to communicate with the IRS. ACCOUNT CLOSURE LETTER (Page 11, para 3), States our, (J.K. Harris), Power of Attorney submitted to the relevant tax authorities will be revoked. I did not submit this document, so I question how they submitted this without my signature.
Para 3, Line 4 Mr. Xxxxx told our Customer Service representative that the services were to expensive.
Misstatement of fact, (Page 12, para 3)
Para 4, Line 3 Was sent a letter detailing why his refund was denied This letter is missing, or it is the:
Account Closure Due to Non-Payment (Pg 11, dated Aug 27 Case Closure For Unpaid Retainer (Pg 13, dated Sept 5) Case Termination (Pg 15, dated Sept 12)
Para 5 Line 1 J.K. Harris and Company understands financial hardship. This seems to be in total contradiction to the letter (Pg 10, para 1), referring to delinquency charges, and the Account Closure letter (Pg
11, para 2), and Case Closure letter (Pg 13, para 1, line 2), termination of contractual relationship.
Para 6, Page2, Line 2 Processing and research. The portion of the fees that Mr. Xxxxx has paid will be kept to cover these expenses.
No processing or research was done on my behalf, for the case was closed, (Pg 10, para 1, Dated Aug 23), also no power of attorney was given.
Once again, J.K. Harris persists on misstating the facts, i.E. That they sent me a power of attorney on August 6th.
Upon my initial meeting with Karen Barry at the Beverly office of J.K. Harris, I was told that the whole process may take a year, for J.K. Harris to resolve my problem with the I.R.S. For J.K. Harris to have sent me a power of attorney as referenced in their letter (Pg 24, dated Aug 13th), where J.K. Harris altered the date, August 13th, which is coincidentally the date I first contacted J.K. Harris to cancel the contract.
The following would have had to occur: August 2, Friday 11:00 am Initial appointment, after the appointment to send out my paper work in an overnight envelope to arrive by Monday August 5th. Receive my paper work and process it, then send out again. All this was said to have occurred in 24 hours. (Pgs 16,17, 18, para3, line 1).
Unless I was their only account they had to process in that time period, I find this hard to believe, and question why the letter is altered to August 13th, if it was sent out on the 6th.
(pg 24)
If they did send me a power of attorney as previously stated, why did Karen Berry continue to call both our home and my wife's' office to have us return the Form 2848 (Pg 12, para 6, dated Aug 30. Also that they Understand that clients may experience financial hardship, (Pgs 16,17, 18, para 5 pg 1). Also the fact that the portion of the retainer was returned due to Non-sufficient funds, (Pgs 16,17, 18, para 1, pg 2).
After much correspondence with J.K. Harris Co. Through the Attorney Generals office, the Attorney Generals Office informed me that they are only an arbitrator and have no authority to seek legal action against J.K. Harris.
I had also initially contacted the Consumer Affairs department at WCVB (Channel 5), in hopes that they could help (Pg 21, dated Sept 9), and again in December. They consumer affairs department must have contacted J.K. Harris for they subsequently placed an advertisement that aired in February at about 4 am. WCVB now had a conflict of interest and could no longer assist me.
J.K. Harris has left me with no recourse that than to seek a legal remedy through the court.
A representative from J.K. Harris, Monica Linder, Director of legal Affairs, recently contacted me (February), to inform me that they have filed a motion for dismissal, based on the fact that they do not recognize the courts jurisdiction, and that it must go to arbitration.
In answer to J.K. Harris MOTION TO DISMISS, I must reintegrate that J.K. Harris gave up it's right to binding arbitration, and does recognize the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Courts, in its correspondence to the Massachusetts Attorney Generals Office of Consumer Affairs on three separate occasion where J.K. Harris responded with the same letter on three separate dates: Received by the Attorney Generals Office October 7, November 4, and November 18.
So that there can be no misunderstanding, J.K. Harris clearly states in the first paragraph, second line: Please understand that while we are willing to comply in what ever way you, (Revere Office of Consumer Affairs), deem necessary, the Confidentiality Clause in our contract prohibits us from disclosing certain information involved in this case.
The first I have seen of this document was on March 9 at the hearing. Although J.H. Harris signed a certificate of service, they sent it to 520 Broad Street. The highest the numbers go on Broad Street is 58.
Sorry this is so windy, I took them to small claims court and won, collecting is another matter. They will probable not show up for the payment hearing, and I plan to file for treble damages under the Consumer Protection Laws. Also getting ready to file under the Fair Debt & Collection Prctices. This is going to cost them alot more than it will cost me.
Peter
salem, Massachusetts
U.S.A.
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