John Anton Sterbick

My husband had a corporation and needed a tax attorney for back taxes. When looking for a tax attorney in Tacoma, John Sterbick's website popped up. It looked impressive so we set up an appointment. Mr. Sterbick made us feel like everything was going to be taken care of. We paid him his $1,800 fee an...d quickly got all the paperwork he asked for. Mr. Sterbick said he would contact us. After months and no word from Mr. Sterbick we called to check on the status. They said he's working on it and they'll call us. Soon a notice came in the mail from the IRS. We took it over to John Sterbick and again they said they're working on it and don't worry. Next the IRS came to our house and left a business card. My husband was upset and called Mr. Sterbick to let him know about the visit. Mr. Sterbick said not to worry, he would call them right away. Another month passed and more IRS notices came in the mail as well as certified mail. My husband again delivered the information to Mr. Sterbick and was reassured it was nothing to worry about. after another month and no word from Mr. Sterbick we set up a meeting with him to ask questions and find out what the status was. We needed to know what the next step was. John Sterbick entered the room with our folder and asked questions (like it was our first visit). My husband had to keep reminding him what he said before and what he was suppose to be doing. John Sterbeck said "ohhhh, this is a corporation!?" He leaned back looking at the ceiling (for a long time) not saying anything then he stood up and closed the door. He quietly told us "For another $1,500 cash, I can get the amount lowered for you and start immediately." He asked, "how soon can you get the cash?" We said how about the next day? He asked, can you go get it ASAP (that afternoon) and he'd take care of everything immediately. So we did. (It didn't feel right in our gut) but we were wanting to resolve this. Another month past, we heard nothing from Sterbick. We received another notice from the IRS We called John Sterbik and received a voice message stating he was playing phone tag with the IRS and he would be in touch with us. Waiting again....We received another certified letter stating "since we have heard nothing from you, we will go the next step and seize your bank accounts. OMG, this time we thought screw STERBIK, we called the IRS ourselves. The IRS lady made it clear she hadn't heard from Sterbick and had never heard of him. She explained the IRS does reduce the amount owing for people whom owe back taxes with corporations. What a blow, John Sterbik lead us to think he could get the amount lowered (for another $1,500 dollars) we feel like a couple of idiots. My husband called Sterbiks office PISSED OFF. He told them about the call to the IRS. He told him what the IRS lady said. The IRS lady told us that Sterbick finally called her to set up an appointment. We stayed in contact with the IRS and handled everything ourselves. hard telling what the outcome would have been if we didn't. We spent $3,300.00 for NOTHING! DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!! As we see it, the good reviews someone left on here were probably written by himself or one of his family members! STATUS UPDATE: We are in the process of reporting him to the Washington State Bar Association.