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Feds crack down on movers who hold belongings

BY Tom Kelly  on September 5, 2012 @ 7:09 am (Updated: 7:46 am - 9/5/12 )

Federal lawmakers are cracking down on moving companies who try to hold homeowners' belongings hostage during a move - a scam that's more common than many realize.

Homeowners will soon have more protection against this increasingly reported rip-off in the moving industry. It usually involves a moving company providing an owner with a lowball quote for a move. The mover then packs up the owner's belongings onto a truck and refuses to unload it until a higher fee is paid.

Starting in October, movers who hold an owners' items hostage can be fined by up to $10,000 a day, according to new rules imposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, an agency of the Department of Transportation.

Tom Kelly, Real Estate Today
Tom Kelly has been a professional journalist for 36 years. He served The Seattle Times for 20 years, many as Real Estate Editor.
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  • astromart wrote...
    It should be $100,000 a day
    September 9, 2012 5:53 pm
    I had this happen to me when we moved to Arizona - $5,000 quote and they were going to set everything up changed to $9900.00 and storage charges if I didn't wire them the money. Then they just brought the boxes into the house and now you are on your own. That "industry" is filled with criminals.
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