Equity Trust Company
Customer Service
Whatever investment decisions you make, DO NOT get involved with Equity Trust Company.
I did eleven years ago and it’s been nothing but trouble ever since.
A few years ago, I invested in the Parnassus Core Equity Fund through my self-directed IRA at Equity Trust.
Then I moved from NY to North Carolina and wanted to consolidate my holdings at the Edward Jones office here in Winston-Salem.
The only asset that could not be transferred was my Parnassus investment which my advisor at Edward Jones said they could not hold.
I then filled out paperwork to transfer that investment out of Equity Trust and into an IRA at Parnassus.
The customer service people I spoke to at Equity Trust said that it was done in June.
However, they didn’t tell me that Parnassus could not accept the transfer because Equity Trust couldn’t give them the original account number under which the shares were purchased.
Equity Trust’s customer service people called me with a number of different account numbers, none of which had anything to do with these holdings.
Then they directed me to call COR Clearing House to see if they had the number.
COR Clearing directed me to call yet another firm which also didn’t have the proper account number.
You would think that Equity Trust would have done the digging for me.
As of this writing, I have no idea how to get this money, which continues to grow.
I am working with regulatory authorities to try to resolve this matter. Equity Trust is a disaster.
They will apologize for an inconvenience yet do nothing to resolve it.
They are at the very least incompetent or possibly something worse.
If it works for you, I'm sure it works, if not be warned
If it works for you, I’m sure it works, if not be warned, Equity Trust has a generous fee for every occasion. They’ll get you coming, they’ll get you going, and they’ll get you standing around.
If they run out of fees they’ll charge you a fee for dreaming up new fees. Seriously, it’s a couple of hundred minimum every event. Be careful, read the fine print, know what you are stepping into.
What a nightmare!
What a nightmare! Absolutely the most incompetent bunch of idiots I have ever worked with. Customer support/help is useless. The sad part is they have had the worst reviews from Day 1 yet they are still in business. I finally transferred everything to other IRAs. Good riddance!!!
DO NOT DO BUSINESS
Unfortunately I was forced to have an account with these people because my self-directed IRA went into receivership with the Feds due to a Mormon crook in Utah. They are as bad as him! DO NOT DO BUSINESS with this company! They will just take your money with no help or explanation and you are held hostage!
I very dissatisfied with ETC.
I currently have a ROTH IRA with ETC. I have always felt the right hand was not communicating with the left hand. In a recent transaction, I sent them a Deed They advised that the deed was worthing to them because the left the wording “custodian” out of the title.
I had a Corrected Tax Deed made and recorded” at my expense. I forward the corrected deed to ETC. I later sold the property closed and about 3 weeks later I get a certified letter with the “worthless deed” and the took out $30 from my account to send me this worthless deed.
Then I find out the did not take it from the Credit Card on file but from my account. I requested a refund of the $30 and was denied. I very dissatisfied with ETC.
I have had a self directed IRA for real estate since
I have had a self directed IRA for real estate since. At Sterling Trust, I never had a problem. Ever since Equity Trust took over, it has been a nightmare. You have to go up 6 levels to get a manager. I asked for a distribution and asked $20.00 be taken out for state taxes.
They took out $50.00. I am still waiting on a call back from a supervisor which is now 48 hours. They also took out $75.00 for requesting a distribution in December. It took 12 days to get the distribution into my checking. To solve my problem, I would have to send the money back and start over again.
So, another 2 weeks. I generally have a problem on every other transaction. I left a $ sign off one time and said take 5.00 out for state. They send everything back and the customer has to redo the sheet. They don’t alert you to software changes and sent back monies from rent twice because they don’t believe in using phones.
Buyers looking into using this company, BEWARE!
They are the most unfriendly, least customer oriented, not knowledgable business I have ever dealt with and it won’t be long I will send my complaints to FB as well as find a much more customer focused company. I can’t believe this is a billion dollar corporation and the CEO gets paid a little over $330,000 for salary but a million dollar bonus if he cuts the corners needed to get upscale employees.
To leave, they want lots of money to shut the account down. They take all monies out of accounts early in January. They keep taking from a Roth which they do no dealings throughout the year. They threaten you if you are $10.00 down in March. Buyers looking into using this company, BEWARE!
Something very fishy going on here. Run away!!!!!
If you are thinking of doing business with Equity Trust, stop right now. This is one of the worst companies I have EVER done business with. My father was swindled out of $384,000 through a self direct IRA by a Bernie Madoff kind of guy. My father is now 84, has dementia and I am his financial power of attorney. I have all of the notarized forms to prove this. I have answered every question they have asked.
I have sent in every form they have requested. We even had a conference call with my Dad on the phone giving them permission to give me access to his account. It has been over a month and they are still asking more questions and throwing up more road blocks. What was their culpability in my father losing money? Why can’t I get access to his account? Something very fishy going on here. Run away!!!!!
This is the worst company I have ever dealt with.
This is the worst company I have ever dealt with. If I could I would give them no stars I would. The customer service is terrible no one knows what they are doing. They act like you work for them. It takes for ever to do a transaction with them.
Their fees are not even competitive with other custodians. They charge very high fees on your account and then charge more fees for everything they do. I have a self-directed IRA with them. When you give them directions they will do what they want to be able to charge you more fees.
If you open an account with them you will regret it. Then when you want to close the account because of their crappy service they will charge you $230 to close the account and get your money back.
I would never recommend doing business with these guys
I would never recommend doing business with these guys. I had some assets that unfortunately did not perform. I was not only in a situation where I lost my assets but then Equity trust continues to bill me and won’t let me terminate my agreement unless I pay egregious fees to close the account. These are not people who are on your side….stay away!
Very dishonest company dont use them.
Very dishonest company dont use them. Sent forms in to transfer cash out on a expedited basis which they charge extra for. I faxed it in on claimed they got it on now saying it will be 3 to 5 business days to complete a simple wire transfer. If you put money in very difficult to get out. David N.
I wonder why the Feds allow this company to stay in business.
I would rate this company NO STARS if it was an option. My account was aquired by Equity Trust from anonther company that held my IRA. The asset I had in the account went bankrupt and it took me 3 YEARS and having to hire a attorney to get the asset revalued. During this time I paid fees based on the original account value (over $2,000 in fees) plus having to pay the attorney.
Once the asset was revalued they had the gaul to charge me $225 just to close the account. Also they would send threatening letters every year they they would report you to the IRS if you didn’t pay their fees. I wonder why the Feds allow this company to stay in business.
I've been with Equity Trust for over 10 years and have watched this company go continuously "down hill".
I’ve been with Equity Trust for over 10 years and have watched this company go continuously “down hill”. They don’t deserve one star. I will sometimes get a good customer rep,
but most of the time are not helpful and often condescending. You would think that if you paid over $3,000/year in fees to ETC that you would be treated more fairly.
Not getting your money tied up in that Black hole in the 1st place would be my advice.
0 STARS!!!! I got tired of paying their exorbitant fees and started trying to get out over 3 months ago. Haven’t been able to pull it off yet. Stonewalling allows them to charge their exorbitant fees just that much longer.
This is surreal! I’m beginning to wonder if I’m ever gonna be able to get my money out of there. Not getting your money tied up in that Black hole in the 1st place would be my advice.
Stay away from ET!
Just horrible customer service and process! The only positive was the initial person I spoke to about setting up the SDIRA. She was awesome answering all of my questions quickly. That all went South when I tried to actually fund our first real estate investment.
Quickly had to get a supervisor to actually get it done. Fast forward to the 2nd investment and even worse. I submitted paperwork 3 weeks ago and the responses are silly and the so called customer services rep’s do not help and take days to respond, if they respond at all.
Even Supervisors not responding this time. This is so embarrassing, as the investor I am working with is stuck in the middle of all of this waiting for my funds. I am in search of a new provider now. Stay away from ET!
Avoid
Totally incompetent and impossible to work with. Avoid.
Stay away from Equity Trust.
The level of incompetence and indifference at this company is staggering. Had been a long time client and was very happy in the beginning. Now Equity Trust’s only goal now is to find a way to ding you for more fees. Customers service reps are untrained and unable to help.
Once an actual transaction is completed you get hit with additional fees and charges. Have to spend the next two weeks to get them removed. Stay away from Equity Trust. There are numerous other companies that can handle your IRA/ROTH transactions with significantly less hassle.
NEVER AGAIN!
EQUITY TRUST is not worth the time or money–both of which you will spend big time with them because THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. Too many forms, too many fees, too many people there who are inexperienced.
I have been caught in their rabbit hole for five months now just trying to get real estate out of the IRA. NEVER AGAIN!
Do not use this company for your third party trust to hold your real estate IRA.
Do not use this company for your third party trust to hold your real estate IRA. Fees are ridiculous for no service. Their paperwork for anything is overwhelming and unnecessary. They charge ridiculous fees to wire IN money. ONce they receive a wire transfer (which should be almost immediate) they still jerk you around for “48 hours”.
If you transfer money in via money order or check FROM an institution like AMeritrade that only sends money if you have it, they hold it for 5 days. They so keep your money for their purposes and their client service sucks.
They filled out a check incorrectly and then tried to charge me for the stop payment or I could mail it back in snail mail and of course that all takes another couple weeks.
Lead times to actually get your hands into a subcontractors hands who wants to be paid is outrageous. I had to order checks for vendors 2 weeks before I needed them in order to pay on time. They charge me $500 a year and then nickle and dime you to death with other charges otherwise, you wait and wait and wait.
Will never use again.
The fees associated with this company are high. Customer service is slow, and they incorrectly distributed my account – to gain more fee revenue. Will never use again.
User friendliness is not part of their package.
Equity Trust is a difficult company to work with as we have been with them several years now. They cannot process a deposit (money in) form and distribution form (money out) request at the same time. They must be sent separately weeks apart. Setting the one aside until the other is processed is unthinkable.
Some years they make you pay a late fee for their services when the original bill was never received. The $50 late fee has never been waved, not even once.
Their forms are forever changing & this year I used last years form and it is being sent back to us with a check. I’ve waited a week for an envelope to go from Ohio to Pa. Sometimes in the past you must hand write what you want done on the form as there are not provisions on the form to move money from one IRS to another.
The companies concept is a good one but it seems the management needs an overhaul & the employee’s more training. User friendliness is not part of their package.