Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act

Key Points

• This bill gives the Department of Transportation more power to punish moving companies that break the law. It allows officials to issue fines directly to companies or brokers that violate shipping rules, making it easier to hold bad actors accountable for their actions.
• States would be allowed to use federal grant money to investigate and catch dishonest moving companies. To encourage states to take action, the bill lets them keep the money from any fines they collect, rather than sending that money back to the federal government.
• Moving companies and brokers would be required to have a real, physical office where they keep records and where managers actually work. This helps prevent 'scam' companies that operate only online or out of temporary locations to avoid being caught by officials or unhappy customers.
• When a company applies to start a moving business, they must disclose if they have connections to other moving companies from the last three years. This is designed to stop owners from closing a business with a bad reputation and immediately opening a new one under a different name to hide their history.
• If a company fails to provide a real business address or follow the rules, the government can take away their license to operate. This aims to protect families from 'hostage load' situations where movers demand extra money before delivering furniture or simply disappear with a person's belongings.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.