FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: PUC Press Office, 415.703.1366, news@cpuc.ca.gov

PUC Acts To Protect Consumers From
Illegal Moving Company

SAN FRANCISCO, April 8, 2004 -- The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC), in its ongoing efforts to clamp down on illegal moving companies, had telephone service shut off to Carty Moving and Storage, based in San Francisco.

Owner, Thomas Joseph Carty, had been operating a moving business with a revoked PUC permit. Carty Moving and Storage was first issued a permit on April 27, 1999, but the permit was revoked on Nov. 30, 2000, for failure to pay regulatory fees. On Jan. 8, 2002, Carty Moving and Storage re-applied for a permit but the application was denied for failure to file evidence of cargo and public liability insurance coverage.

Despite many written and verbal directives from PUC staff to Carty Moving and Storage to immediately cease operations, Carty Moving and Storage continues to conduct unlawful moves. On March 29, 2004, PUC staff obtained an order signed by a judge of the Superior Court of San Francisco, to terminate the Carty Moving and Storage's telephone service. Cutting off phone service has proven an effective tool for the PUC in curbing unlicensed companies and protecting the public.

In addition to operating without a valid license, Carty Moving and Storage also advertised in Yellow Pages directories and the newspapers displaying a revoked permit number and claiming to be insured.

Under Public Utilities (Pub.Util.) Code section 5133, no one may engage or attempt to engage in transporting household goods without a PUC license. Consumers using unlicensed movers may suffer irreparable losses of personal belongings with little means of recovery. Pub.Util. Code, Section 5322 authorizes the PUC to request a local phone company to cut off service to a carrier using the phone to operate illegally as a household goods carrier.

For more information, please visit the PUC's website at www.cpuc.ca.gov.

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