Business Filings Division - SCAM!!!!

Please see below to read the official complaint I sent to the Secretary of State, State of California. I have created this blog because I was not able to find any information on this company when I was trying to verify if the document I received was official or not. We have only just recently started working with an LLC and we fired the business that set it up for us. They were also taking advantage of us, overcharging for unnecessary services and that sort of stuff. The gentleman's name who set up the LLC and charged us $1500.00 to do so is Bill Lentini. He owns WEL Enterprises Inc. a CPA and all around finanical advisor. I know of several people that have been audited by the IRS due to his shenanigans. His office is on Market St, Castro District in San Francisco. I would highly recommend staying way from this business and that man but that is just my opinion and it may differ from yours. (Small disclaimer to keep me out of trouble)

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Tracy Bullard. I am a managing member of Hale’ Koa Enterprises. I received an official looking request to file our biennial Statement of Information from a company called BUSINESS FILINGS DIVISION. The document has what looks like a California State Seal, lists all of Hale’ Koa’s information like the control number, CA LLC # and a demand for payment with a due date. The document is very similar to the official document provided by the state with only a few small differences and of coarse the amount, which is $239.00 to file the $20.00 filing fees. It even has a Sacramento address. It all looks very official and with the exception of one very small item in very small print on the bottom of the document that states:

THIS PRODUCT OR SERVICE HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED OR ENDORSED BY ANY GOVERNMENT AGENCY AND THIS OFFER IS NOT BEING MADE BY AN AGENT OF THE GOVERNMENT.

This is predatory and unbelievably deceiving. The only reason we figured it out was because I neglected to send a check when I returned the document. I thought it was just a request for information because we recently changed the state contact for Hale’ Koa. The form was returned to us with a request to “remit payment immediately!”. It just so happens that we received the official document from the state at the same time and my wife started asking me questions. I begrudgingly looked into it to discover that we were indeed being taken advantage of.

PLEASE, do something about this underhanded predatory like business. Our economy is in the tank and business’s like this one are making the situation worse, taking advantage of people that can’t afford it. They are not offering a service, they are stealing from us hard working Californian’s who own business’s and pay taxes and are trying to stay in this state and make a living.

My wife as asked me to file the same complaint with the Better Business Bureau as well and I intend to do so. I will keep updating this as I hear back from these agancies. Please if you have had a similar experience or a suggestion let us know as I am dedicated to stopping this type of unscurpulous behavior.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and if you should have any questions please feel free to post them.