Oelwein funeral home surrenders license for pre-need services

The owner of the Geilenfeld Funeral Home in Oelwein agreed to surrender two licenses Wednesday because he didn't place customer's funds for future funeral or cemetery services in trusts, but instead, deposited the funds in the funeral home's checking account and spent the money on the business.

Charles Geilenfeld kept records of the “pre-need” transactions and has cooperated with the ongoing examination and investigation, which started in October 2009, according to the consent order from the Iowa Insurance Division. There won't be a hearing because Geilenfeld agreed to surrender his pre-need seller license of the funeral home and his sales agent license.

Geilenfeld must pay a civil penalty of $2,500, which must be paid within 30 days of the order, and retain a certified public accountant to perform an audit of all pre-need contracts funded by trusts, life insurance or certificates of deposits and that report must be submitted to the division within 120 days.

According to the order, Geilenfeld also can't apply in the future to reinstate his sales agent license or for a pre-need seller license.

There were five violations found concerning pre-need agreements, but in three of the cases the funds that should have been placed in a trusts were deducted from the amount charged to the families and no money is owed to the families.

In the other two cases, $1,095 wasn't placed in a trust in 2008 but Geilenfeld agreed to place that amount plus 5 percent per year in a trust and provided proof to the division on May 10m, and also agreed to provide proof of placing $3,300 plus 5 percent per year into another trust for a different customer by May 10, according to the order.

The funeral home also didn't include disclosures on contract forms; was the owner and beneficiary of life insurance policies used to fund pre-need agreements, which is a violation; and filed a false annual report in 2008 regarding pre-need contracts.