CONTACT: Armando Rendón September 15, 1997 CPUC-101
415-703-1366

CPUC GETS COURT ORDER TO RETRIEVE GOODS

FOR CUSTOMERS OF ILLEGAL MOVER

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has obtained court orders against Thomas H. Pick, doing business as A Harmony Moving and Storage (A Harmony) in the Los Angeles area, to restrain him from further operations and to show cause why his company should not go into receivership.

A Harmony had been operating without a CPUC permit and failed to respond to numerous requests from its customers for access to or removal of their goods from the company's warehouse. Despite prior warning from the CPUC and disconnection of its phones through a Superior Court order, A Harmony had continued to operate unlawfully.

The Los Angeles Superior Court issued a temporary order of receivership on September 5, pending additional hearings on September 24 in the L.A. Superior Court's Compton office. The CPUC was appointed receiver and is attempting to help customers retrieve their goods.

Anyone with possessions in the A Harmony Moving and Storage warehouse at 700 W. 190th Street, Los Angeles, should contact CPUC Special Agent Toni Crowley at 1-800-999-3348 or 909-383-4208. About 200 customers have goods in storage and CPUC staff could reach only some of them by letter.

Responding to the problem of unscrupulous operators who fail to exercise reasonable care of the goods entrusted to them for safekeeping, the California Legislature enacted a statute in 1996 which added Section 5259.5 to the Public Utilities Code. This statute provides that the CPUC, whenever it finds that a carrier has abandoned or is about to abandon household goods, can ask for a Superior Court judge to appoint a receiver or allow CPUC staff to take over and identify the property in order to arrange its return to the rightful owners.

Under the state Public Utilities Code, no one may move household goods without a CPUC permit. CPUC regulations require carriers to be adequately insured and properly trained, and to comply with consumer regulations.

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