Lear Capital — editorial review

Founding and background

Lear Capital was founded in 1997 by Kevin DeMeritt and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company is one of the longest-tenured Gold IRA marketers in the United States, predating Goldco (2006), American Hartford Gold (2015), and Noble Gold (2016) by roughly a decade. The longevity is itself a data point — many Gold IRA marketing organizations fold within a single market cycle.

Lear Capital reorganized under Chapter 11 in 2022 and emerged from bankruptcy in 2023. The company continues to operate; the underlying business model — sourcing Gold IRA customers, handling rollover paperwork, earning a margin on the bullion delivered to third-party custodians and depositories — is unchanged from the pre-bankruptcy structure. Snapshot as of `2026-Q2`.

Regulatory history

In May 2021 Lear Capital entered into a settlement with the New York Attorney General's office over allegations of fee disclosure failures and aggressive sales practices. The settlement included restitution to affected customers and changes to disclosure practices. Multi-state inquiries followed in subsequent quarters. Read the NY AG press release and the underlying complaint directly before forming a view — the settlement itself is the primary source, not the secondary reporting.

Lear Capital subsequently filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in 2022, citing settlement-related liabilities and customer-claim resolution. The company emerged from reorganization in 2023 with a revised operating structure. The Chapter 11 case is part of the public PACER record and the docket includes the schedule of disputed claims, the plan of reorganization, and the disclosure statement filed with the bankruptcy court.

A buyer evaluating Lear Capital today should weigh that history. The regulatory action is documented and resolved; the underlying conduct that prompted it is also documented. The disclosure and sales-practice obligations imposed by the settlement remain in effect; whether the company's current practices conform to those obligations is the question to ask. Other Gold IRA marketers in this review have no comparable regulatory history.

Current custodian and depository options

Post-reorganization Lear Capital has continued to route Gold IRA accounts through Equity Trust Company as the primary custodian. The custodian's fee schedule applies independent of Lear Capital's sales process; the rollover paperwork, the audit trail, and the legal title arrangement live with the custodian.

Depository options have historically included Delaware Depository (Wilmington, DE) and other IRS-approved facilities. Confirm in writing which depository will hold the metal before the purchase; ask the custodian (not Lear Capital's sales rep) to confirm the assignment.

Post-bankruptcy diligence note: a buyer should also confirm in writing that the metal will be deposited promptly to the IRS-approved depository at the point of purchase, with the custodian receiving direct confirmation. The settlement and bankruptcy filings reference disputes over delivery timing and confirmation in older transactions; a current buyer can pre-empt the same issue by requesting written confirmation language up front.

Fee snapshot

Per Lear Capital published materials and verified customer documentation as of `2026-Q2`: a setup fee in the range of `$50-$75`, an annual IRA maintenance fee that depends on the custodian assignment (Equity Trust's rate has historically been `$80/yr`), and Delaware Depository storage fees comparable to industry standard.

The fee disclosure issue at the heart of the 2021 settlement related to the markup on the initial bullion purchase relative to spot. The current company is required by the settlement terms to provide clearer disclosure of that markup. A buyer should expect — and insist on — a written breakdown of spot price, premium per product, and any handling charges on every quoted order. If a Lear Capital sales rep declines to provide that breakdown in writing, that is itself a data point.

As with every Gold IRA marketer, the disclosed annual fees are smaller than the markup on the initial purchase. The post-settlement disclosure obligations make Lear Capital's markup theoretically more visible than some competitors'; verify that in practice on your own quote.

Buyer profile

The buyer profile Lear Capital attracts is broadly similar to the larger Gold IRA marketer category — retirement-age investors rolling over `$50,000-$500,000` from a 401(k) or IRA into a precious-metals position. The longevity of the brand (founded 1997) brings repeat customers and word-of-mouth referrals that newer competitors do not have.

A buyer who has read the 2021 NY AG settlement and the 2022-23 bankruptcy docket and is comfortable proceeding with appropriate diligence is the buyer profile this company can serve. A buyer who has not read those documents should read them before signing anything. The company's longer operating history is a positive signal in the abstract; the specific regulatory history is a yellow flag that warrants sharper questions during the sales process.