Lawsuit accuses Equity Solutions

A Florida company that offers to help consumers recover unclaimed property is charging illegal fees said the North Carolina attorney general.

The agency's consumer protection division and the State Treasurer's Office contend that Equity Solutions of the Carolinas has engaged in a pattern of racketeering and deceptive business practices.

The lawsuit filed Aug. 13 in Wake County Superior Court names the company and its president, Dein Patrick Spriggs of Jupiter, Fla.; vice president Bruce M. Cohen of Cary; Maria D. Cohen of Cary and Leo I. Liberto of Jupiter, Fla.

The lawsuit says consumers are told that Equity Solutions will bear the costs of obtaining the unclaimed property. The company then has consumers agree to a contingency fee of 30 percent to 80 percent of the value of any property recovered.

Under North Carolina law, fees for unclaimed property finders are limited to $1,000 or 20 percent of the value of the property recovered, whichever is less.

Staff writer Mary Cornatzer