Courthouse Retrieval???

Oh and have no idea what a COURTHOUSE RETRIEVAL is and not even sure if I put this in the right spot or if the thread needs to be some place else.

They must be some sort of company who can retrieve your property tax records without your going to the courthouse. I think you should keep calling until you have spoken to the right person.

Well what the heck would they want my property tax records for?? We closed on the house Jan 29th, 2006 and our property tax is being paid through our mortgage as is our insurance. I am just a little skeptical due to there is no name of the form that was sent and there is no name on the envelope and I only get a name when I call the number. Heck I have looked up this number with the BBB, reverse look up, even the who called us website to see who they were. Makes no sense to me at all.

I hope it????????s nothing serious. But try to get in touch with the person on the phone.

I think I am going to try to do a little more research. Have been looking on the BBB site about Palmetto State and there is nothing with that name in Charlotte NC, that even is a bank or mortgage company. There are extermiantors, bricks, landscaping, equity (which it says rental), and a few more and the only one that is in Charlotte is landscaping. The more I try to see what this is, the more fishy it sounds.

2nBand-it sounds rally fishy to me too!!I have never heard of a Courthouse retrieval! I would call the court clerks office in the am and see what they say-also call your mortgage company and see if they know what it is. Don't give any personal info to whoever sent you the letter. This may be someone trying to get you to re-finance through them or some other scam-let us know what you find out!..Karen

I have called the number several time and all I get is a voice mail for this guy although he does give his cell phone number. The area code does match Charlotte, Concord and Gastonia, which I have looked in all 3 towns for Palametto State and guess what, nothing by that name having to do with a bank or anything like that. I would think if it were truly something important, they would not wait over a year to contact us and if it were that important, why weren't we notified after we signed for the house the day before? Just doesn't make any sense to me at all. I know we are constantly getting things in from other people wanting us to "refinance" our house with them, blah, blah, blah. Most of the time they do not have a return address and when we open them up, there is a bunch of info and a business card, which we file in file 13...trash. This has nothing but this little orange piece of paper.

I wouldn't worry about it- sounds like a bulk type of thing they mail out toothers. The other day my mom got something that wanted my dad to cll about his Medicare supplement. So she called, this person had my dad's B.Day, SS numer and everything, and wanted to check to see if he was satisfied with his coverage-Trouble is---my dad has been dead for 26 years :lol: We still don't know how, or who she was and how she got the info!!..KAren

Well found out that it IS where they are wanting us to refinance. They just used terms to make it sound like it was imparative that we call. Ended up talking to someone who deals with real estate, so I feel better now. It is JUNK MAIL!!!

Thought so- What a relief for you!! It sounded too much like a bulk type of mailing they send out!! Now you can take a deep breath :lol: Karen

Yeah....What I was told is that more than likely this company pulled everything right after the deed and stuff was filed and were just now getting around to contacting us to possibly refinance and used the wording they used to make one think it was something more than what it was so one would call. I hate sneaky people, just come right out and say what you want to say! But I filed it away in the trash last night.

what ever you do DO NOT GIVE OUT ANY PRIVATE OR PERSOANL INFORMATION AT ALL when you do get a hold of someone. There are so many SCAMS AND SCUMS out there that will do anyting for you to call them, and while they are acting out there phone play roles, the person at the other end is scared like they did somehting wrong. tell those people to go to hell and do not be scared. If you did not do anything wrong, then you did not do anything wrong.

I am constantly trying to read everything I find about some of these scams that people are pulling and I have gotten very cautious about giving out information. Last time I did that, we were into the payday loans and not doing it again. Too many crooks out there!

I called and talked to Rick Scherer on a Sunday (9-14-08). I was very careful in what I said to him. Come to find out he is a mortgage company (he wouldn????????t tell me the name) trying to talk people in to refinancing though him. You are not in no danger with your house. The letter is a sales tactic, to get people worrying about their most valuable possession and call him "ASAP" (lol). Once you call. He will try to trick you into giving up your name and address, before he will give you any general info about him and his company. It sounds like a mortgage scam, and he's a fraud. So, Don't worry about any thing from this guy.

I recieved a letter in the mail today that was addressed by hand and had no return address. I opened the envelop and it only had a scrap of orange paper w/ Rick Scherer's name. I called the number listed at the bottom (1-866-230-0094) and got a voicemail that said "Office of Rick Scherer." I was so scared that something was wrong with my mortgage b/c the message said "Urgent!! Requires Call Back" and said that there was a "Courthouse Retrieval." I was in near panick when I decided to google his name to see if there was a law office by that name in Charlotte, NC. Thank goodness I came across this string and found out that it was some scammer. I'm going to contact the NC AG tomorrow and file a complaint. Thanks to those who posted. I can sleep well tonight!

We constantly are getting thing like this now and we throw them away...but that first one scared the tar out of us. Just love those things that do not have return address on them. Glad the thread was here to help

It is NOT A SCAM! Granted, it is an odd way to advertise! It is for refinancing and to be honest, I get hundreds of flyers to refinance in the mail everyday. Over the past year, I have talked to 3 companies and all either couldn't help us or had high interest rates that would put us in a worst situation they we already were in. I had pretty much given up on refinancing until I received this note in the mail. I find Mr. Scherer to be extremely honest and knowledgeable. Not only did he qualify us for a 5.5% interst rate (and we don't have the greatest credit in the world), but he also got us refinanced in less than 2 weeks. Granted the note was a bit scary, but I, for one, am thankful that he sent this to me!

Rick Scherer is evidently still in business. I got one today that talks about the mortgage I got in 10/2007. Sheesh. He must be making money tho, these guys don't give up if they're getting $$.

CourthouseRetrieval is just a system that gives loan officers information about people who have just bought a house, information on property tax, and deeds.

I read this post when I got one of these notes in the mail and decided to call. I feel I need to post a positive comment about Rick Scherer. Although the note was a little scary at first, at least it wasn't some offer telling me to call for a 2% rate (which they never offer to anyone). I decided to refinance my home with Rick and he provided EXACTLY what he said he would from the beginning. I am extremely happy and hope that anyone that reads this post gives him a call. I hope you find the experience as pleasant as I did.

I have been in the mortgage industry for 12+ years. The courthouse retrieval system is not a bad thing. The professionals who subcribe to it aren't necessarily using it for bad reasons. I have used it myself for my company, however we took a very straight forward approach. We use it to see who had ARM loans or in high interest rates. We would send a letter outling our exact reason for contact. I think that it is a redflag if someone mails a letter and is using scare tactics rather than being upfront. The system itself is not harmful, nor are many people who use it. In my opinion it is a marketing tool. So don't let one bad apple concern you too badly. There are a few of those in every bunch. Regards to all

Scare tactics is a terrible way to drum up business. I get refi letters all the time and this is by far the worst one I've received. I have a great rate and we don't plan on staying in the house for much longer so I am not sure why anyone would think to waste their money sending us this stuff but this guy's note was indeed trying to scare us into using him. Terrible!

We too have recieved similar little notes in hand-written envelopes postmarked from Charlotte, NC. Ours is from "Jim Wright" and the number is 1-877-717-2522. So watch out for this guy too.

Rick Scherer is still at it. 9/22/09 - got that same little sheet of orange paper in the mail today. Anyone who would use scare tactics like this should be put out of buisness.... in this day and age - when many people are behind on their mortgage, or have missed at least one payment... losing your home is a serious consideration for some and and not everyone is going to question the legitimacy of such a serious sounding message.
It's a terrible way to do buisness.

Why would anyone use his services... who would trust such a deciever?