Additional Information
Additional Information for Wall & Associates, Inc.
This is a multi-location business.
- Headquarters
- PO Box 747, Marshall, VA 20116-0747
- BBB File Opened:
- 7/8/2003
- Years in Business:
- 32
- Business Started:
- 4/1/1992
- Business Incorporated:
- 2/10/1998
- Type of Entity:
- Corporation
- Business Management
- Mr. P. Mark Yates, CEO
- Ms. Jennifer Cable, Chief Operating Officer
- Contact Information
Principal
- Mr. P. Mark Yates, CEO
- Additional Contact Information
Fax Numbers
- (540) 364-8088Primary Fax
Phone Numbers
- (877) 291-1109Other Phone
- (540) 364-8088
- Additional Business Information
- Government ActionsGovernment Action: BBB reports on known government actions involving business’ marketplace conduct:Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Wall & Associates, Inc.
The following describes a pending government action that has been formally brought by a government agency but has not yet been resolved. BBB is providing a summary of the government’s allegations, which have not yet been proven.
On September 13, 2017, the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia filed a lawsuit against Wall & Associates, Inc. in the Circuit Court for Fauquier County. Charges allege the business is in violation of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act (VCPA).
According to a press release issued by the Office of the Attorney General:
“The lawsuit alleges that Wall & Associates took thousands of dollars in up-front and monthly payments from consumers, while misleading them about the effectiveness of its services, the qualifications of its employees, and the time it would take to resolve consumers' tax disputes. The Attorney General specifically contends that Wall & Associates violated the VCPA by, among other ways, deceiving consumers about:
(1) its average results obtained for consumers, including false claims that Wall's average client settles for about 10 percent of their tax debts owed or that Wall has unusually high acceptance rates for its settlement offers;
(2) how long cases would take and how much consumers ultimately would have to pay in total monthly fees, which usually cost consumers hundreds of dollars per month;
(3) its employees' tax-related experience, qualifications, and abilities, including by mischaracterizing its salespeople as "tax consultants" or "tax experts," and claiming that employees were authorized, qualified, or certified to practice before the Internal Revenue Service or state tax authorities, when they were not; and
(4) its physical business presence nationwide, including using temporary rental offices in locations across the country for its sales pitches, to give consumers the false impression that the employees working on their tax disputes were local, when they operated only out of Virginia and Tennessee.”
The matter is pending. For more details go to the Attorney General’s press release.
In response to the Commonwealth’s allegations, Wall & Associates provided the following statement:
“Wall & Associates has been providing assistance and guidance for persons with tax questions and issues for decades. In the last ten years alone, more than 20,000 individuals or businesses have taken advantage of our services. Wall & Associates has always adhered to the highest standards of professionalism in all of its dealings with its clients.
The complaint filed by the Attorney General of Virginia against Wall & Associates is based on inaccurate information and has no merit. Wall & Associates is forcefully and vigorously defending these inappropriate charges.”
Government ActionsGovernment Action: BBB reports on known government actions involving business’ marketplace conduct:State of Minnesota vs. Wall & Associates, Inc.The following describes a pending government action that has been formally brought by a government agency but has not yet been resolved. BBB is providing a summary of the government’s allegations, which have not yet been proven.
On December 11, 2018, the Attorney General of the State of Minnesota filed a lawsuit against Wall & Associates, Inc. in Hennepin County (MN) District Court. Charges allege the business is in violation of Minnesota consumer protection laws.
According to a press release issued by Minnesota’s Attorney General:
“Minnesota law requires companies that offer to help people settle tax debt to register with the State and prohibits them from collecting payments before services are delivered. The lawsuit alleges that the company, Wall and Associates, Inc., failed to register in Minnesota and collected large advance payments from customers of up to $15,000 prior to the full delivery of services, in violation of Minnesota law.
Despite not being registered to do business in the State, Wall offers to help Minnesota consumers with tax debt problems, making claims on its website such as:- ‘one of Minnesota’s leading professional tax representation and negotiation firms’;
- we ‘[ne]gotiate and settle your tax debt on your behalf’; and
- we ‘reduce[d] the amount our clients owe the IRS by over $150 million dollars!’
Wall claims to operate local offices in Minnesota, but really just rents temporary office space in Minnesota to make in-person sales pitches to prospective Minnesota customers.
The company also failed to make required disclosures to Minnesota consumers, including: 1) prominently including on the front page of its agreements “the total amount and an itemization of fees … reasonably anticipated to be paid by the debtor over the term of the agreement”; and 2) a prominent statement describing a Minnesota debtor’s 10-day right to cancel the agreement. The company also illegally made Minnesota customers “subject to the laws of Virginia,” rather than the laws of Minnesota.
Some customers of the company have reported difficulty in getting Wall to return their calls or be responsive to inquiries about the status of their file, even after paying thousands of dollars to the company.”
The matter is pending. For more details go to the Minnesota Attorney General’s press release or call (651) 296-3353 (within the Twin Cities metro area) or (800) 657-3787 (outside the Twin Cities). Individuals may also download a Complaint Form at www.ag.state.mn.us and mail the completed form to the Attorney General’s Office at: 445 Minnesota Street, Suite 1400, St. Paul, MN 55101-2131. - Serving Area
We service the following area(s): Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
- AK
- AL
- AR
- AS
- AZ
- CA
- CO
- CT
- DC
- DE
- FL
- GA
- GU
- HI
- IA
- ID
- IL
- IN
- KS
- KY
- LA
- MA
- MD
- ME
- MI
- MN
- MO
- MS
- MT
- NC
- ND
- NE
- NH
- NJ
- NM
- NV
- NY
- OH
- OK
- OR
- PA
- PR
- RI
- SC
- SD
- TN
- TX
- UT
- VA
- VI
- VT
- WA
- WI
- WV
- WY
- Business Categories
- Tax Consultant
Pattern of Complaint
On November 1, 2018, BBB met with Wall & Associates to address the underlying causes of these patterns. The business provided BBB with the following statement and plan of action to eliminate its pattern of complaints.
“Over the years, W&A has represented tens of thousands of taxpayers. An important factor in successfully reaching resolution to a tax liability is communication between W&A and its clients. This means communication must be effective both to and from the client. It is important that clients cooperate with W&A. To continue effectively representing its clients, W&A provides:
1. W&A has a longstanding policy of providing its clients with an information folder to help aid in their clients’ understanding of the representation process. This is given to the client at the initial consultation. Included is contact information for reaching out to someone internally at W&A if the client should ever have any questions regarding any aspect of the representation.
2. Per policy, W&A returns client phone calls within hours of receipt. In order to ensure adherence to this communication policy, independent oversight is provided by W&A’s Client Services Group and management.
3. When client information is received, a response is provided to the client indicating receipt of the communication. If the client would like a current status of their case, it is available upon request.
4. Individual time frames are, by nature, unpredictable. Some factors contributing to this unpredictability include slow response times from the IRS or other taxing authority and non-responsive clients. W&A professionally urges faster responses from the IRS or other taxing authority when necessary, while maintaining a cooperative relationship with them. W&A works with its clients to reduce the burden on them as much as possible; however, each client plays a role in the timely outcome of his or her case by how effectively they communicate with W&A. For these reasons, W&A makes no representations to its clients regarding time frames. Upon hiring W&A, we can provide suggestions for how a client may positively impact their case.
5. Consistent with ongoing policy, W&A will continue providing its clients with copies of written correspondence sent to the IRS on their behalf. Any time the IRS is contacted on behalf of a client, the client will be notified in writing of such contact and the nature of the contact.”
BBB will review complaint activity at three-month intervals to determine Wall & Associates, Inc.’s progress toward eliminating the patterns identified above and will provide the business with updates based on those reviews.
Accreditation
This business is not BBB Accredited
Years in Business: 32
BBB Rating
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