Complaints

This profile includes complaints for LPL Financial's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  LPL Financial

  4707 Executive Dr San Diego, CA 92121-3091

• 

  LPL Financial

  1055 Lpl Way Fort Mill, SC 29715-8101

• 

  LPL Financial

  477 Main St East Sandwich, MA 02537

• 

  LPL Financial

  711 Capitol Way S Ste 204 Olympia, WA 98501-1267

• 

  LPL Financial Services

  1550 American Blvd E Minneapolis, MN 55425

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/03/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Since May 2022, I have been attempting to close out my deceased parents' *** accounts. I have spoken to 6 different people and received 6 different messages about the documents that I need to do to close these two accounts. I have submitted documents on 3 separate occasions and my paperwork was just ignored. In December, I was told that everything was resolved and that I would receive my money in 5 days. I have not received that money yet. I recently called and was put in touch with 2 supervisors who have told me that my documents are outdated and wrong. I spent over two hours on Jan 27, 2023 filling out brand new packets-one for each parent- and going to get these forms notarized and scanned in order for resubmission. Yesterday, 2/2/23, I spoke to one of the supervisors, who despite going line by line with each form with this man, told me that I still had to make corrections and that more forms were still due and need to be notarized. So today, I need to leave work early so I can complete this paperwork and get it notarized so I can complete everything in a timely fashion so that forms do not become outdated yet again. I am not owed millions of dollars, only $6000, and yet they are not able to release this money to me. I do have court paperwork, which I have submitted more than once, that names me the Executrix of both estates. It is beyond anything that seems normal at this point.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/09/2023

  Please see attachment 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/10/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  LPL Financial was her financial investment manager. My Mother-in-law started with over $1 million dollars, and ended up with NOTHING. Between an ignorant and inexperienced advisor/representative who partnered with the ***** of ******** instead of the actual client, and the atrocious abuse during litigation of their lawyers, the 83 year old woman wound up with nothing but a shattered shell of her former self. Because of COVID, it took almost 4 years to get a 'court' appearance and by that time she had come down with the onset of Altzeimers. LPL lawyers had her admitting to living in places she has never lived at, and doing things can be easily proven that she never did - all behind locked doors. If you thought the ***** of ******** was elder abuse, LPL far surpassed that. It was criminal. I have to select a rating number to be able to submit this, otherwise it would be negative numbers.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/23/2022

  Dear BBB,

   

  LPL Financial LLC (LPL) is attempting to investigate the above-referenced complaint from ***************************** who complained on behalf of his mother-in-law.  The complaint, however, did not name Mr. ******* mother-in-law or her LPL financial representative.  Accordingly, we have been unable to review and evaluate this matter.  LPL has reached out to **************** to get more information and will update you once we have completed our review.

   

  ***********************
  LPL Financial LLC
  Vice President and Associate Counsel |  Compliance, Legal & Risk

  Early Dispute Resolution Group

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/23/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have (had) an *** with this organization. I retired June 30th of this year and contacted my agent at LPL (***************************) that I wanted my funds ($6,202.55) now. I was told that it would be better to transfer to another *** account to avoid paying taxes at this time. (I was not told that I in fact could get a check and deposit it in another account if it was within a certain time period). Anyway, I physically went to my credit Union (Pen Fed) filled out the paperwork and opened an *** where the money could be deposited. (This was July 1, 2022). I waited giving all parties time for the transaction to occur. After 2 weeks and not hearing anything, I called the credit Union. They said they had sent out the request (even got a return receipt), but had heard nothing further. I finally contacted my agent at LPL and she informed me that there was some kind of problem with the paperwork ( but they hadnt gotten back to me or the credit union to let them know this). So we tried it again, this time from LPLs side and it still didnt work. I finally told my agent to mail me a check. (I believe this was around the end of July). My agent claims it was mailed out on the 8th of August. Well, a few days ago I received a confirmation of my change of address ( dated the 9th), but still no check. I contacted my agent again, asking her how I received the address change from them dated the 9th but still no check that was supposedly sent out the day before. And I keep getting the run-around. I was told, I could stop the check, and then get it resent (for $15 my pocket) by quicker service. I dont want to do this at this time at the off chance it might come and I have to begin the waiting game all over again. Now, I am at my wits end. I am due to move overseas the beginning of September and was hoping to get this settled before then. Can you please help me? Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/17/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  About two months ago lpl flagged my account for review. They wanted me to get a letter from orange ulster department of the aging and once they got that letter I would have my account released to me. I got them all the documentation needed and they wont release my account. When I contact lpl directly they give me the run around and refuse to let me speak to **** ******* who's the person who put this flag on my account. I am now dealing with hardships as a result of me not being able to access my money.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/11/2022

  Please be advised the Better Business Bureau serving the pacific southwest (“BBB”) sent LPL
  Financial LLC (“LPL”) a complaint you made on August 17, 2022. In your complaint, you
  express concern LPL placed a flag on your account for review, and although you’ve complied
  with the request to get a letter from the ****** ****** ********** ** *** *****, you still do not
  have access to the funds in your account.
  After conducting an extensive internal review of this matter, we deny any wrongdoing on the
  part of Financial Professional ****** ********* (“Mr. *********”) or LPL with respect to your
  complaint. Further, we want you to know that any actions taken by LPL were done to ensure that
  your assets were protected. The facts and circumstances relevant to his matter are set forth
  below.
  By way of background, Mr. ********* is licensed by and registered through LPL since 1991.
  He indicated you and your spouse, ***** *****, have been clients since 1999. He further
  indicated that after your wife’s passing in May 2022, the assets in her 403b account totaling over
  a million dollars were transferred to your IRA account held directly at Putnam Investments
  (“Putnam”) and linked to your LPL IRA account ending in 1407. At this time, we would like to
  extend our condolences for the loss of your loved one.
  On June 15, 2022, Mr. ********* contacted LPL’s Senior Investor Protection (“SIP”) Group
  with concerns that you may be subject to possible financial exploitation because you made
  several withdrawals of substantially similar amounts from your Putnam IRA totaling over
  $800,000 from January 2022 through June 2022. Further, Mr. ********* informed LPL that you
  stated you needed the funds for your adult son’s medical and education expenses. In an effort to
  ensure your assets were protected, we instructed Mr. ********* to ask you for documentation to
  support any future withdrawal requests.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/04/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On May 26, of 2022, I transferred my *** account to LPL Financial to open an IRS annuity. The contract stated that I could cancel if I did so in 20 days. On June 5th, I informed my LPL agent that I no longer wanted the annuity. I instructed him to have LPL return the money to the financial institution it had come from. He sent me a cancellation form stating my request on June 7th and I signed it. Since June 7th, I have spoken to countless LPL reps. **** one has assured me that the funds would be returned to my account at the original institution. It is now August and the funds still have not been returned. The original annuity was with a company named ******* Financial. They returned the funds to LPL on June 9th. Since June 9th, I have been given a host of excuses from LPL about returning my funds. I specifically requested that the funds be returned to the original institution because it is an ***. I did not request a disbursement because I have no intention of utilizing the funds at this time. The problem is LPL has not followed my directions for returning these funds. They did send a check to the other institution, but failed to include necessary information (full name, SS #, and account #) which they had. My original institution voided the check and sent it back to LPL with a letter of instructions to follow, along with a self-addressed envelope. LPL still did not return the check or the required information. Instead, LPL had a Fed-X envelope delivered to my home on July 23 (no signature required). I called LPL and spoke to a representative the following Monday (7/25) and informed her that I would not be opening the package delivered by Fed-X because they had my directions about what to do with the funds in writing. The rep assured me that the check would be voided and a new check would be sent to the receiving institution with the required information. When I contacted the receiving institution on 8/1, they had not received the check. No check was mailed.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/25/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On the death of our mother, ***** * ******** on May 14, 2022, her LPL Investment Account was to be immediately distributed among her four children, me being one. Almost immediately, all siblings were told by LPL Financial Agent, ******** ***** and later confirmed by Regional CUNA/LPL Manager *** ****, that our mother’s account standing on the date of death was $406,364 and that amount would be equally distributed. In the two months that followed, all siblings received misinformation (or non-responses) on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis as to the hold-ups on the liquidation and disbursement of mom’s monies. Mr. ***** was instructed to keep the monies as CASH in my account x6793 and not to invest it (opting for an immediate ACH transfer). This instruction he seems to have ignored. So what should have taken a week, took 2 months. I have received a partial transfer for $96,520.88 and am now waiting for the remaining $5,071. ****** ** *******

  Business Response

  Date: 01/05/2023

  Dear Mr. *******, 

  Please accept this letter as LPL Financial LLC’s (“LPL”) response to concerns you raised on or about  July 25, 2022, regarding the above-referenced brokerage account and the corresponding beneficiary  distributions from your mother’s account. In particular, you expressed confusion regarding a $29,767  discrepancy between the amount you expected to be distributed among the beneficiaries ($405,767)  ($101,441.75 per child) and LPL’s calculation of $376,000 (or $94,000 per child). Your LPL brokerage  account is serviced by (“Investor Guidance Center”) Financial Consultant Nicholas Burge. LPL is the  broker through which investment products are offered by Investor Guidance Center’s line of business  under a contractual agreement between Investor Guidance Center and LPL. Mr. ***** is licensed by and  registered through LPL, therefore the concerns you raised were forwarded to LPL’s Legal Department  for review and response. 

  As I understand the matter, Ms. ***** ** ******* passed on May 14, 2022. According to Mr. *****,  he promptly submitted Ms. *******’s death certificate upon receipt from Mr. ******* *******. Mr.  ***** further attests he explained, during a phone call, that your mother’s account was ‘Restricted’ once  the death certificate was submitted and that no trades/transactions could take place until proceeds were  transferred to each beneficiary1. Mr. ***** states he explained that the funds were subject to any market  fluctuations that happened between the date Pershing received your mother’s death certificate and when  the proceeds were moved into each beneficiary account. 

  According to Mr. ****** there was a substantial delay in transferring your mother’s account from its  original custodian at Pershing to LPL Financial. A review of the Not in Good Order (“NIGO”)  explanation2from LPL’s back office shows that the transfer was rejected due to a non-matching account  

    

  1 FINRA regulations require Brokerage firms to cease all trading activity in the deceased’s accounts upon receipt of a death  certificate. Once the funds are distributed, transactions may be conducted and gains/losses are attributed to the beneficiary  accounts and corresponding tax identification numbers.  

  2 NIGO is an acronym that stands for “not in good order.” In investments, insurance, or pretty much any other industry that requires paper documents to be filled out, a document is considered “not in good order” when it is submitted with missing or inaccurate information.

  Member FINRA/SIPC 

  number. A review of the account documents shows Ms. ***** ******* and her husband, Mr. ******  ******* originally opened the account as a joint and survivor account. Upon Mr. ******’s passing, Ms.  *******’s account had to be re-titled as an individual account in the name of Ms* ***** *******. When  Ms. ******* completed the paperwork for the individual account, she mistakenly used the (original)  (joint account) number in completing the Transfer on Death (“TOD”) agreement for her (individual) account. Therefore, when Mr. ***** submitted the TOD agreement, LPL’s back office rejected the  instructions because the TOD form she submitted did not match Ms. *******’s (individual) account  number at Pershing. Mr. ***** provided LPL with a paper trail to explain the two accounts were one in-the-same; however, LPL policy prohibited an accommodation to process your beneficiary  distribution. 

  To avoid probate and further delay, Mr. ***** in conjunction with CUNA and LPL asked for a  workaround, wherein Mr. ***** provided a letter of indemnification (LOI) to LPL to override firm  policies. Upon receipt of the LOI, your mother’s funds were transferred and disbursed to your  beneficiary account promptly. Without the exception, the assets held in your mother’s account would  have been exposed to even greater market depreciation.  

  First and foremost, I apologize that you were unhappy with this series of events. Based upon our  thorough review and analysis of the circumstances surrounding beneficiary distribution, we have  determined that Mr. ***** provided you with a professional level of service, and attention and undertook  efforts in good faith to facilitate your beneficiary disbursement. Further, Mr. ***** could not liquidate  your mother’s assets until they were transferred into the respective beneficiary accounts. Mr. ***** attests  he discussed with you the constraints regarding liquidation. For these reasons, LPL denies any  wrongdoing on the part of LPL, CUNA, and Mr. ***** regarding the delay in your beneficiary distribution  and the market decline of your mother’s account. 

  I hope this correspondence addresses your concerns. LPL thanks you again for your business.  Should you have any additional questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.  

  Regards, 

  ****** ******** 

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/07/2023

  The Vendor LPL Response: The Vendor LPL did a good job of casting blame on themselves for a myriad of problems and delays in the release of inheritable funds which resulted in significant loss of funds for our family. However, they also deduced in the same breath that they did nothing wrong, even claiming that the unconscionable delays (they caused) could really have been a blessing: by saving us from even more market losses. OK, they cause the problems and I pay for it. We get it. But I would highly recommend the Vendor LPL take a hard look at the vast number of readable COMPLAINTS (internet) against LPL procedures, goofs and policies specifically concerning the handling of inheritable funds and to CHANGE their policies. LPL receives a mark of FAIL as fiduciaries at a time when people's emotions are still in grief from the loss of mother, father, etc. A double whammy. What a shame...a destruction of goodwill --- in a situation that could have been used to cement new, good and long-term relations with an investment company. We (the family) are now considering our options against LPL.