If you owe enough in back taxes, the IRS will file a lien against your property which secures an interest in that property. The IRS “Notice of Federal Tax Lien” would inform you of the recording of the lien, which becomes public record. If you have received this notice, then chances are you have also received a stack of mail from various tax resolution firms wanting your business.

These “FTL mailers” are often given the appearance of an official IRS notice, complete with an official-looking seal, fabricated notice numbers, and meaningless codes.  Some letters contain tables and formatting that is also meant to replicate the style of IRS correspondences.  Most of these mailers, if read carefully and completely, do divulge the true identity of the sender. However, the firm name is usually somewhere near the bottom of the page, in a small font, and missing any contact information other than a toll-free phone number.

If you have received any mailers that fit this description, please shoot me an email (jwetenkamp@mwattorneys.com).  Also, I would love it if you could send copies to me; I’m sort of collecting them:)