NJ Division of Consumer Affairs Reaches $360K Settlement with Bergen County Moving Company

The owners of a Bergen County moving and storage company who allegedly held their customers’ personal property unless they paid more money are permanently barred from owning or working in such business in New Jersey “under the terms of the Final Consent Judgment that concluded a lawsuit filed in State Superior Court in Bergen County,” Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said. The 18 consumers who claimed their possessions were held from the Fair Lawn-based company will also be reimbursed for their losses.

According to a press release, consumers who filed complaints alleged that “Moving Max, Inc., offered artificially low moving estimates, and then once in possession of consumers’ personal property, threatened to hold those items unless a higher payment - at times double the price agreed to - was paid immediately and in cash or by money order.”

The Division of Consumer Affairs filed suit last July claiming that Moving Max, Inc.’s owner and his father, Adam and Oziel Eliad, “committed multiple violations of the Public Movers and Warehousemen Licensing Act and its related regulations, and the Consumer Fraud Act,” Hoffman said.

According to the investigation, the Eliads ”allegedly provided consumers with artificially low quotes via the Internet,” ranging from $225 to $921. But after loading their customers’ property onto a moving truck, they would demand a much higher payment, ranging from approximately $500 to $1,665.

Hoffman says the Eliads attempted to justify the increased charges by claiming the charges were due to “unnecessary packing charges, use of tape and blankets that were not actually necessary or even used, and even an ’EPA’ fee when no such fee was included in the company’s tariff, which is a a formal schedule of rates and charges filed with the Division of Consumer Affairs.”

“The lawsuit also alleged, among other things, that the defendants: failed to conduct pre-move onsite surveys of the consumers’ belongings; failed to provide consumers with a copy of the State-mandated brochure, ’Important Notice to Consumers Using Public Movers’; intentionally concealed contractual forms so they could not be read by consumers, who were then pressured to sign the forms without adequate review; and failed to provide consumers with a written estimate or a formal contract,” Hoffman said.

The remaining $347,622 in civil penalties and investigative costs and attorneys’ fees have been suspended because the Eliads, who are also accused of violating terms of a February 2007 Final Consent Judgment related to a former moving company they owned, do not have the financial ability to make such payment at this time. However, they are required to submit state and federal tax returns to the Division of Consumer Affairs for the next five years and if either reaches a certain income, payment of the suspended civil penalties and cost and fee reimbursements must begin.