Crook or friend?

[CaliDavid]

Hello all!

My parents keep getting this letter saying $1,700 is owed to our Family Revocable Trust. They want us to sign the bottom of the paper (which states that they (CochranInvestment.com) are entitled to 35% of the recovered funds) and mail it back to them and they will do the rest. I called them and they say that they don't require any upfront money. My question is, does this sound like a scam? I have searched the Federal and California State websites and don't see any money owed to us. If you were me, would you sign the form and mail it back? Do they know something that we don't?
No IRS returns we may have missed?

My father is in the late stages of Alzheimer's Dementia and I am trying to familiarize myself with his finances and want to make sure he didn't miss anything because we can use the money.

Many, many Thanks,

David

 

[Just Blue]

Hello all!

My parents keep getting this letter saying $1,700 is owed to our Family Revocable Trust. They want us to sign the bottom of the paper (which states that they (CochranInvestment.com) is entitled to 35% of the recovered funds) and mail it back to them and they will do the rest. I called them and they say that they don't require any upfront money. My question is, does this sound like a scam? I have searched the Federal and State websites and don't see any money owed to us. If you were me, would you sign the form and mail it back? Do they know something that we don't?

Many, many Thanks,

David

Yes it does sound like a scam.

 

[CaliDavid]

Hi Just Blue, Can you please elaborate a little?

 

[quincy]

I agree with Just Blue.

 

[quincy]

There could be unclaimed property or money but you do not have to pay to claim it.

Try a government website to find unclaimed funds/property. https://www.usa.gov/unclaimed-money

 

[CaliDavid]

Didn't try that one. Thank you Quincy!

Keep you posted

 

[quincy]

I am sorry to hear about your father. It is nice for your parents that they have you looking out for them.

Good luck.

 

[CaliDavid]

Struck out on every search...

 

[quincy]

Struck out on every search...

Then it appears there are no hidden funds or property to claim.

 

[Chyvan]

Not necessarily, quincy. This topic came up on a finance forum once. We were positive that the poster could find the money himself. He couldn't. He signed the letter. It ended up being a sum from an insurance company on a life insurance policy. This doesn't necessarily have to be a scam. It can be very real. I don't know how to find hidden money when it hasn't been turned over as abandon property.

OP, think really hard about people that died that might have left your relative money. Maybe from that, you can call some family members that might know of a policy floating around. I get that 35% is a pretty stiff fee to pay to get own money.

Unfortunately, the finance site has closed down, and I doubt there's an archive. From the sound of your story, it's probably the same life insurance company, but I can't remember that name.

 

[quincy]

I am always wary of companies that contact older individuals - out of the blue - asking for signatures or money.

Most unclaimed property can be discovered through legitimate government sources. You do not have to pay to reclaim money belonging to you.

Here is a link to a 2017 New York Times article, written by Sopan Deb, on unclaimed property and how best to recover it: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/us/found-money-scam.html

 

[Dandy Don]

This is a legitimate company that has been registered with the state of California for over 40 years. With no complaints against them on the BBB website, so they must be doing something right and have a lot of satisfied customers after all this time.

Some unclaimed funds databases are private and the general public would have no access to them (I know because I have access to unclaimed property tax databases). You won't find the money yourself because Cochran's niche is real estate unclaimed funds databases. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I would negotiate a better rate for yourself by asking them to send you a fee agreement where they should correct the 35% to 20%. They almost have no choice but to agree--they don't benefit unless you get paid.

 

[quincy]

This is a legitimate company that has been registered with the state of California for over 40 years. With no complaints against them on the BBB website, so they must be doing something right and have a lot of satisfied customers after all this time.

Some unclaimed funds databases are private and the general public would have no access to them (I know because I have access to unclaimed property tax databases). You won't find the money yourself because Cochran's niche is real estate unclaimed funds databases. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I would negotiate a better rate for yourself by asking them to send you a fee agreement where they should correct the 35% to 20%. They almost have no choice but to agree--they don't benefit unless you get paid.

The letter received might not be from Cochran. I again warn against anyone signing over rights to collect on their behalf any money owed them. I especially warn against anyone disclosing personal information to someone based n what is claimed in a letter.

At the very least, the letter should be personally reviewed by a lawyer prior to signing anything.

One additional note: BBB ratings and/or a lack of complaints on a BBB website should not be a deciding factor on a company's legitimacy.

 

[LdiJ]

The letter received might not be from Cochran. I again warn against anyone signing over rights to collect on their behalf any money owed them. I especially warn against anyone disclosing personal information to someone based n what is claimed in a letter.

At the very least, the letter should be personally reviewed by a lawyer prior to signing anything.

One additional note: BBB ratings and/or a lack of complaints on a BBB website should not be a deciding factor on a company's legitimacy.

Having an attorney involved when the claim is only 1700.00 to start with and the collection company is already going to take 35% kind of makes it almost not worth it.

My boss's niece got one of those letters. She lives in Japan so my boss had me handle it for her. It was totally legit. Her mother passed away a couple of years ago and they just let the bank take her car and condo believing that they had no viable equity. It turned out that the bank was able to sell the condo for 10k more than what was owed/costs and it ended up that the collection firm searched for heirs.

 

[quincy]

It could be legitimate. My advice and warnings stand.

Read the article I linked to. You do NOT have to pay to recover money that is owed you.