Congratulations! You have found a home you love and you will be closing soon. So far so good. Now you need to find a good moving company. Most companies are legitimate and will offer good service, but you must be aware of the fact that some companies are not registered to do business as movers. There are federal and state laws that regulate moving companies depending on where you are moving. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Adminstration, a division of the Department of Transportation, regulates moves from one state to another. For moves within a state, the state or local deparment of consumer affairs regulates these companies.
In this article, we will discuss some of the warning signs that you may be dealing with an unregistered moving company. One sure sign is when they give you an estimate over the phone without even seeing your furniture. How can they know how much your things weigh or the amount of funiture that must be moved. They may give you a low estimate just to entice you to hire them. Believe me, a large couch that must be moved from the top floor of a six story walk-up will cost more than a small loveseat on the first floor. This is also sometimes done to keep contact with you to a minimum. Another big warning sign is if they show up on the day of the move with a rental truck instead of a company truck with their own name. A legitimate company will want to advertise their name. "We only accept cash, no checks or credit cards" is a major warning sign. Why? Cash does not leave a paper trail that can be tracked back to the company. It cannot be monitored by the IRS, credit card companies or a bank. These are just some of the warning signs you need to be aware of.
In my next article, we will discuss what you can do to find a registered and reliable moving company.