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SB 304 — Household Moving Services
by Senator Hooper
This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.
Prepared by: Commerce and Tourism Committee (CM)
The bill broadens protections for consumers who use intrastate moving services by:
- Providing additional registration and proof of registration requirements for movers and moving brokers;
- Providing for a required performance bond or certificate of deposit in certain circumstances for shippers’ moved goods;
- Requiring a binding estimate of the cost of services, including any applicable fees of a moving broker, to be provided by the mover to a prospective shipper;
- Requiring a moving broker to arrange with a registered mover for the loading, transportation, shipment, or unloading of household goods as part of a household move;
- Requiring a moving broker to include their registration number in all documents and advertisements, and include certain identifying information and information pertaining to applicable fees on any document provided by the moving broker to a shipper;
- Prohibiting a moving broker from providing an estimate or from entering into a contract or agreement for moving, loading, shipping, transporting, or unloading services with a shipper that was not prepared and electronically signed by a registered mover;
- Requiring the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to suspend a mover’s or moving broker’s registration upon notification and subsequent written verification by a law enforcement agency, a court, a state attorney, or the Department of Law Enforcement that such registrant is formally charged with a crime involving:
- Fraud;
- Theft;
- Larceny;
- Embezzlement;
- Fraudulent conversion;
- Misappropriation of property; or
- A crime arising from conduct during a movement of household goods; and
- Clarifying that it is a felony of the third degree if a mover or mover’s employee, agent, or contractor refuses to comply with an order from a law enforcement officer to relinquish a shipper’s household goods in certain situations.
If approved by the Governor, or allowed to become law without the Governor’s signature, these provisions take effect July 1, 2024.
Vote: Senate 39-0; House 112-0