A Cypress woman is asking Amy for help this morning recovering money from an estate sale company. When our consumer expert Amy Davis started digging, she found a familiar face.
Channel 2 told you about Jeff Parsons in May 2015. At the time, he was working with Premier Estate Sales Network based in Sugar Land. His then girlfriend, Bree Finch, was listed as the president of the company.
Both Finch and Parsons have questionable pasts that should raise a red flag with consumers. Margaret Overgoner didn't know Parsons' last name when she hired Windsong Estate Services to help her 82-year-old mother downsize in September.
"They always identified themselves by first name," Overgoner said. "They never identified themselves by a first and last name."
If she had Parsons' last name, our previous story would have popped up when she searched for him online. We told you how Parsons was under criminal investigation for fraud in Illinois after his multimillion dollar gold buying business went bankrupt.
Customers said the checks Parsons wrote for their valuables cashed. Parsons left Springfield owing former employees and creditors more than $12 million.
"They make up a very good story," said Overgoner. "They always say, 'It's a family business.' They've been around for 30 years. I had no reason to suspect that wasn't true."
Parsons popped up in Texas somewhere around 2014 and joined forces with Bree Finch, also known as Bree Quisenberry, Bree Hill and Bree Gallardo.
She served two years in prison in 2011 on charges she stole $227,000 from the trust funds of elderly residents at Lake Jackson Healthcare Center where she worked at the time.
Court records show she married Parsons in July on the beach in Galveston in 2016.
The estate sale industry is not regulated. You don't need a license or any special certification. It's why you have to be extremely careful and make sure you know who you're handing your property over to.
Parsons held Overgoner's estate sale in September, but Overgoner said he paid her only $749, a quarter of what she was owed.
Overgoner took her own inventory of all of the items in her mom's home and then compared it against the list Parsons provided. She said some items weren't even on his list. She also said after sending a certified letter to Windsong demanding the rest of the money she was owed, a Windsong employee told her she would be receiving another check in the mail; but it never arrived.
When we stopped by the Sugar Land address that was on the Windsong Estate Services website (the same address previously listed for Premier Estate Sales) no one would talk with us. From inside, a man who sounded like Jeff Parsons shouted for us to leave.
"Jeff, why don't you come talk to us?" Davis shouted outside the door.
Overgoner is taking Parsons to small claims court. We'll let you know how that works out. Another woman in Bay City sued him in August, claiming Parsons owes her more than $50,000 for jewelry he sold from her estate.
Parsons is currently paying $500 a month towards the $12 million he owes in his Illinois bankruptcy. Parsons convinced the judge to reduce his $5,100 monthly payments to $500 because he said he didn't have the income to pay more.
When you hire an estate sale company, you should check records not just for the company, but also the people who own ir or run it.