Accurate answers? Part 3: Neglected facts and mischaracterizations lead to wrong conclusions

Neglected Facts by FWCLA and ALOA:

How locksmiths are trained.

Florida locksmiths are professionally trained. Check out FWCLA’s website. Their website touts “Florida West Coast Locksmith Association is all about education.” They have trainings scheduled every month as do other associations. Strange how they didn’t mention that, but then it looks like only the Associated Locksmiths Of America (ALOA) answered this question.

Locksmiths regularly receive training through local associations and locksmith suppliers who bring in safe, lock, equipment, tool and software manufacturers and vendors to certify locksmiths on their products. Locksmiths train to make their jobs easier, expand their services therefore gaining more business and service their customers better. They have file drawers of certificates and storefronts, warehouses, storage sheds and vans crammed with product and equipment to prove it. New locksmiths learn from long-time locksmiths and supplement their training at locksmith schools either online, distance learning, video or CD classes or attend classes at conventions or seminars. Most locksmiths feel it is not appropriate to be burdened with costly regulations and mandatory and continuing education. At an estimated $50 a credit hour, SB 658 is requiring 16 credit hours or an $800 burden on already professionally-trained locksmiths. Mandatory training of trained locksmiths will not stop the criminal element – only enforcement of current anti-fraud laws will do that.

Locksmiths certifying themselves?

When I interviewed Senate analyst Mandy O’Callaghan she said she had some concerns about whether or not the locksmiths were certifying themselves. She said she asked FWCLA lobbyist Janet Mabry about who would be doing the training and was told it would be the locksmith/employers or a major locksmith employer who would be providing the training.

Okay, so maybe Mabry just didn’t know what was going on in the locksmith industry. It’s possible. Maybe she was confused -- after all this is the lobbyist who every time she was asked at a committee meeting who she represented or every time she introduced herself or signed an appearance card, she couldn’t even get her client’s name right. She always said she was representing “Florida locksmiths” or “the Locksmith Association” instead of the Florida West Coast Locksmith Association. The first time I noticed it, I thought it was just a mistake, but after hearing or seeing the same faux pas on every committee video or tape recording, I began to wonder – was it intentional or is she really confused? Maybe overstating whom they represent is a normal “fib” for a lobbyist – I don’t know.

I explained to O’Callaghan that a large chain like Pop-A-Lock, that had their own training center, may be certifying their employees, but most locksmith businesses are a one- or two-person businesses and they do not certify themselves.

Questions 10 & 11 combined
What is the cost of regulation, including indirect cost to consumers and the method proposed to finance the regulation? (Question 11 addresses the cost to locksmiths and FWCLA and ALOA gave the same answer to both questions.)

Answer: ALOA and FWCLA state that the cost depends upon how many the state feels it can license plus the cost of administering the license. They list $500 (Illinois) every two years to $100 (N.C.) every year. They point out that it is less than $1 a day to maintain a license.

Not completely accurate
FWCLA and ALOA failed to address:
The cost to the professional locksmith would be significant as it includes licensing fees, mandatory and continuing education, as well as the cost to maintain and store records on customers and employees. All these costs would have to be passed on the public.

Question 12

Provide any previous efforts in this state to implement regulation of the profession or occupation?

Answer: FWCLA and ALOA state that Dade County had a locksmith licensing ordinance.

Inaccurate: Dade County has an existing locksmith licensing ordinance and it’s been operating well since 1995. FWCLA and ALOA did provide a link to Dade County’s ordinance in their answer, so it may have been a typo. Dade County’s ordinance does not, however, burden the locksmith with mandatory and continuing education. Miami locksmiths, who pay $600 every two years for a license, verified that the locksmith suppliers in the area invite vendors on a regular basis to provide certified training programs.

Question 13

Provide any other information the committee may consider relevant to the analysis of the proposed legislation?

Answer: FWCLA and ALOA state that “many consumers falsely believe that all locksmiths have had a background check and have some proficiency in their trade. There is no way to evaluate this unless locksmiths show that they have a license. With the advent of ‘Phony locksmiths’ defrauding and overcharging the public all over the country, the public is demanding that something be done.” The legislators are then directed to the ALOA’s website page with the 201 “locksmith” stories.

Inaccuracy #1: FWCLA and ALOA did not cite their documentation that determined what consumers do or don’t believe. Florida consumers can rightly believe that professional locksmiths are proficient because they are professionally trained and they actively acquire skills and training to enhance their service and livelihood. Consumers also are likely to presume that any professional trades person would be proficient in their trade. We assume, for example, that car mechanics are proficient in what they do. Most pay for their own schooling and training. Some of them get certified on particular cars or systems as locksmiths can get trained on specific locks and systems. But car mechanics are not required to be licensed or required to take continuing education classes and neither should locksmiths.

Inaccuracy #2: There is an evaluator. The marketplace is the evaluator. It evaluates car mechanics and professional locksmiths alike. Those who don’t measure up lose clients and eventually go out of business. With the advent of the Internet, consumers can go to government or association sites to assure themselves that they are calling a legitimate locksmith.

Inaccuracy #3: Apparently, the “public demand for something to be done” is not very high as locksmith scams are not even listed as one of the top 83 scams on the State’s consumer protection website administered by State Attorney General Bill McCollum.

McCollum’s office lists only one current “locksmith” investigation on its website and it’s for David Peer’s call center. Peer’s already sitting in a Missouri jail cell as that state’s Attorney General sent the U.S. Marshals after him for fraudulent crimes against Missouri residents and mail fraud.

According to Rachel Slone, media contact for McCollum’s office, there have been 62 “locksmith-related” crimes in Florida in the last 3 years or an average of 21 per year.

Slone said, “We have one active ongoing investigation and several of these complaints relate to this active case.” She said that she could not reveal the name of the person in the active case since the person was unaware of the investigation. When asked if they were locksmiths or those posing as locksmiths, Slone said, “We won’t know until we complete the investigation.” (See link below.)

According to Sonya Perez, the media contact for the Miami-Dade Consumer Services Department, where a locksmith licensing ordinance has been the law since 1995, there were 31 complaints against locksmiths in the last 3 years or an average of 10 per year. Perez, however, could not state how many complaints were against any of Miami-Dade’s 450+ registered locksmiths and how many complaints were against those posing as locksmiths.

According to Judy Pepper, President of the Better Business Bureau of Central Florida, there were five complaints against locksmiths in 2009 in Central Florida with a total of 81 throughout the state. South East Florida counties had the highest number of incidents with 53. Unknown is whether they were locksmith complaints or “locksmith” scammer complaints.

According to Terrance McElroy, spokesman with the State Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, the department did not have a lot of complaints against locksmiths in 2009. He said it would be difficult to pull out specific data due to the way they input and track their information. Once it becomes a frequent complaint, they categorize it. Locksmith complaints have not been categorized.

“I don’t think we’ve had an excessive number of complaints,” McElroy said.

Totals from these agencies for 2009 for the whole state
    21     Attorney General’s Office
    10     Miami-Dade Consumer Services
    81     Better Business Bureau
    ?     Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services
        – too small to categorize
    4     Newspaper articles

How many of all these 116 reported incidents are duplicated to more than one agency is unknown. Let’s assume for arguments sake that 50% are against professional locksmiths – that figure would be less than 60 complaints in the entire state. I personally think these are mostly “locksmith” scammer complaints.

I did begin checking counties on Florida’s west coast when I heard a television reporter state in a news report that there were hundreds of locksmith complaints. The four agencies he listed were the Better Business Bureau, the Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services and both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties’ consumer protection agencies.

Pinellas County has the information online and there were 5 complaints all against David Peer. In Hillsborough County, there were 2 complaints (1 against Peer) in 2009. Apparently, the reporter’s figures don’t line up or, under time constraints, he may have relied upon the west coast locksmiths he interviewed to answer truthfully.

Question 14

Name of the person(s) completing this questionnaire and the entity or interested party that he or she represents.

Signed by:
Ken Kupferman, CML, Florida West Coast Locksmith Association
Tim McMullen, ALOA.

Accurate if you don’t count the omissions: Kupferman served as the President of ALOA from 2007 – 2009 and was on the ALOA board for the previous 6 years. Strange he didn’t mention that in the questionnaire or on his appearance cards or in person when he either testified before the committee hearings or showed up to speak.

FWCLA, by the way, was listed as an ALOA Affiliate on ALOA’s website in 2003, but dropped that designation somewhere along the line -- maybe as they began to get more politically involved.

McMullen is the Legislative Manager for ALOA

According to a State of the Association article in the July 2009 Keynotes magazine (page 33), “. . . ALOA played a proactive role in locksmith legislation by providing assistance with the passage of locksmith licensing and related bills in Alabama, California, Maryland and Virginia; monitoring and assisting with the process of introducing locksmith licensing bills in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Rhode Island. . . “

From what I could discern ALOA answered all 14 questions and I‘m crediting FWCLA with 7 answers, although it may not be that high and of those, 3 were inaccurate or distorted the facts. At least 6 of ALOA’s answers either neglected to tell the full story or were complete mischaracterizations and some had multiple inaccuracies.

I don’t know what “assisting with the process of introducing locksmith licensing bills in Florida” means to ALOA, but it appears to be more than just assisting especially when both people signing the questionnaire are leaders in ALOA.

Obviously, there is only one interested party in this questionnaire, only one group seeking to regulate Florida locksmiths – ALOA.

Next post (which may be next week):
I’ll be drawing some conclusions on this situation plus sharing how one locksmith almost single-handedly stopped locksmith legislation in his state by educating his fellow locksmiths what that law would actually cost them. Hope to have these two written the beginning of the week. Then I take two weeks off – to continue writing my former publisher’s memoirs. Then I’ll be back at it. Finally, thank you to all those that wrote such kinds words to me about the work I’m doing. I appreciate it.


DOCUMENTATION


Associations – check out the associations’ education (training) pages or notices

Central Florida Locksmith Association www.cflalocksmith.org First Coast Locksmith Association www.fcla.net
Florida West Coast Locksmith Association www.fwcla.org

FWCLA listed on ALOA’s June 2003 website as an affiliate:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030206051953/http://www.aloa.org/about/chapter.htm#aloa
Associated Locksmiths of America www.aloa.org
ALOA’s locksmith listings www.findalocksmith.com


Podcast of March 3, 2010 – Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee (Video is no longer archived but audio is in the form of a podcast)
www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/PodCasts/PodCasts.aspx Scroll down to the Committee’s March 3 podcast. You can also scroll down to the March 22 podcast of the Public Safety & Domestic Security Policy Committee and hear Mabry say she represents Florida Locksmiths..


Janet Mabry’s appearance sign in

www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?PublicationType=Committees&CommitteeId=2470&Session=2010&DocumentType=Action Packets&FileName=ANRPC_ACTN_3_3_2010.pdf

This link is very long, so go to www.myfloridahouse.gov, then select committees and scroll down to “General Government Policy Council.” From there select the Agriculture & Natural Resources Policy Committee. Once on their page, select “All Council and Committee Documents” from the Committee Document section and select the March 3rd Action Packet. Page 5 lists Janet Mabry signing in as a lobbyist for Florida Locksmith Association.


Miami-Dade’s Locksmith Ordinance

www.miamidade.gov/csd/locksmith_ordinance.asp


Consumers can file or check out complaints at the following links:

County level - Most counties have a Consumer Protection Ordinance and agency that
handles complaints. Go to the local county page and look for the link.
Also, go to local police or sheriff’s office.

State level -
Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
www.800helpfla.com/complnt.html
Office of the Attorney General of Florida
http://myfloridalegal.com/
To check out current investigations, go to: http://myfloridalegal.com/lit_ec.nsf/investigations, click on the “Search Active Investigations” link on top of the column of investigations. Type in the word “Locksmith” and see David Peer’s investigation show up.

Accurate answers? Part 1: Just what did FWCLA and ALOA tell the Florida legislators about Florida locksmiths?

Legislators review hundreds of bills each year and cannot be expected to know and understand how every industry works or what its needs are. One way they obtain information is to require that proponents of a bill supply answers about the impact and cost of the bill on a questionnaire called the “Sunrise Questionnaire for Groups Seeking New Regulation.”

Proponents Tim McMullen of Associated Locksmiths of America (ALOA) and Ken Kupferman of the Florida West Coast Locksmiths Association (FWCLA) answered the 14 questions posed to them. Both sponsors of the bills, Representative Thomas Anderson (R) and Senator Victor Crist (R), later on in committee meeting testimony, echoed much of the information.

Since many times busy legislators rely on the information provided by industry experts, it’s important to examine the accuracy of the information ALOA and FWCLA provided about the Florida locksmith industry.

Some questions and answers have been summarized. To read the Questionnaire and the answers in its entity, go to the link at the bottom of the story. Links to all documentation are listed after the story. Also, take the time to notice how many questions are obviously answered by ALOA and how many by FWCLA. It’s important when the very last question is presented.

Question 1
Provide the number of individuals or businesses that would be subject to the regulation:

Only ALOA Answered: ALOA estimated there were 1,660 locksmiths in Florida. ALOA states they have 415 Florida members and with these figures assumes they represent 20% of all Florida locksmiths.

Inaccurate: The Senate’s analyst Mandy O’Callaghan, who analyzed the bill, estimates there are 2,400 locksmiths in Florida. An exhaustive check of ALOA’s FindALocksmith website for Florida locksmiths in April revealed only 249 Florida members listed. These figures indicate ALOA represents only 10% of all locksmiths in Florida. Either ALOA miscounted or 166 Florida locksmiths have paid for an ALOA membership with a listing and did not get their listing.

Question 2
Name each association that represents members of the profession or occupation and provide a copy of its codes of ethics or conduct:

Answer: FWCLA and ALOA stated they had members in 3 state associations and listed:

Central Florida Locksmith Association
    (45 members, 7 in ALOA)
First Coast Locksmith Association
    (20 members, 1 in ALOA)
Florida West Coast Locksmith Association
    (48 members, 8 in ALOA)
Associated Locksmiths of America (ALOA) – Code of Ethics attached.

Accurate: After comparing ALOA’s membership list with the online member lists of each association, ALOA has a total of 16 members in three state associations or about 13%.

Accurate? Since ALOA did attach their Code of Ethics, I checked to see if “fudging” on a Senate Questionnaire was specifically listed and no, it wasn’t. The ALOA Code of Ethics is worth a read. It specifies that locksmiths should have “high ideals of personal honor.”

Question 3
Document the nature and extent of the harm to the public caused by the unregulated practice of the profession or occupation. Describe any complaints lodged against persons who have practiced the profession or occupation in this state during the preceding 3 years.

Before we reveal FWCLA and ALOA’s answer, we first need to get a good definition of a “professional” locksmith. Locksmiths, themselves, come in various degrees depending upon their desires. Some locksmiths are general practitioners – they do a little bit of everything. Others may specialize in just one or two areas of locksmithing such as auto, safes, commercial, residential, access control, hospitality, etc. The possibilities are endless. But whatever course of operation a locksmith chooses, he/she can be considered a professional if they meet the following definition and I believe most locksmiths meet this definition. To define a “professional” locksmith we do that by defining three words within this question:

Practice: to do or perform something repeatedly in order to acquire a skill

Profession: an occupation that requires considerable and specialized training
Occupation: an activity that serves as one’s regular source of livelihood

With these definitions, the question clearly is “Document the nature and extent of the harm to the (Florida) public caused by unregulated (by the State) professionally-trained Florida locksmiths who actively acquire skills and training to enhance their service and livelihood.”

The word “Florida” was added to clarify which “public” the Senators were concerned about since, obviously, they can only legislate in Florida. Also added are the words “by the State” to modify the word “unregulated.” Currently, there are no State regulations, which is what the question refers to, but professional locksmiths do adhere to county and city regulations, which mainly include zoning procedures, occupational licenses or business tax receipts.

Why “locksmith” scammers can never be considered professional locksmiths

Undoubtedly, one of the best explanations of how a network of professional locksmiths operates within a community was written by locksmith Tom Lynch, CRL, founder of the Society of Professional Locksmiths and former board member of ALOA and is posted on the media resource page of his website. (See link below) It states:

Fabric of the Industry -
The locksmith industry is comprised of a variety of individuals who posses various skill sets and backgrounds. The industry is considered to be a specialized tight-knit community. On a local level the professional locksmiths know each other and those working within their demographic area because of all the hours spent training together, meeting at locksmith supply houses, attending social events and association meetings, and attending product seminars or conventions. These locksmiths are frequently engaged in assisting one another in skill set development and mentoring. They regularly refer locksmiths in other areas when calls come in from out of their work area or if a job requires someone of a certain specialty.

“Locksmith” scammers are obviously locked out of this vibrant network of professionals.

Unfortunately, for Florida’s professional locksmiths, FWCLA and ALOA did not read through the question as thoroughly as I did. Their answer lumped Florida’s professional locksmiths with all sorts of criminal and unethical “locksmith” scammers not only in Florida, but all over the United States and in Canada when they provided a specific link to ALOA’s website. Here’s FWCLA and ALOA’s answer, or maybe it was just ALOA’s answer:

Answer: FWCLA and ALOA state that “locksmith scammers are defrauding and overcharging the public all over the country with a large portion in the retirement communities of Florida.” Legislators are provided a link to ALOA’s website, specifically to an 11-page list of 201 news stories from around the country and Canada with at least one-third of the articles more than three years old. (There were 201 news stories when I first began writing about this issue. More stories have been added.)

Accurate part: “Locksmith” scammers……is happening all over the country.

Inaccurate part: Linking to this list of 201 news stories across the country gives the impression the problem in Florida is huge when only 13 stories are Florida-related and within the three year limit. Many of the headlines use the word “locksmith” without explaining that these were call center employees posing as locksmiths.

Here’s how the 13 Florida stories break down:

8     Stories highlighted the investigation and arrest of call center
      owner David Peer who dispatched the “locksmith”scammers.
      (This was great news for the industry. These are not problem
    “locksmith” stories but problem solved stories.)
1     “News story of Senator Victor Crist introducing SB 658
      (an announcement story)
4     Stories are about call center employee scammers posing as
      locksmiths. None of the stories identify the victim as
        a retirement community resident. See links to stories below.

Four incidents in 3 years, none of which are related to professional locksmiths. This is not a huge problem. I’ll tell you later what other agencies have said, but after analyzing merely the documentation ALOA provided to legislators, there were only 4 incidents.

Tomorrow:
Part 2 details the booklet of locksmith misconduct given to House Committee members, Rep. Thomas Anderson’s comments at a committee hearing, what important “enforcement mechanism” (law) does ALOA believe is necessary for Florida locksmiths and what is the motivation behind ALOA’s push


DOCUMENTATION

Sunrise Questionnaire Click Here

Associations

Central Florida Locksmith Association www.cflalocksmith.org
First Coast Locksmith Association www.fcla.net
Florida West Coast Locksmith Association www.fwcla.org

Associated Locksmiths of America www.aloa.org

ALOA’s locksmith listings www.findalocksmith.com
ALOA’S Press room – 200+ stories www.aloa.org/pdf/pressroom.pdf
      There were 201 stories when I first began investigating in March/April

Society of Professional Locksmiths' Media Resource Page
www.sopl.us/media-resource-page.html

4 news stories – none identifying victims as retirement community residents

1. University of South Florida students and “locksmith” scammers www.usforacle.com/address-listings-for-mobile-locksmiths-don-t-match-up-1.2109053

2. Jacksonville “locksmith” scammer story www.firstcoastnews.com/news/special/specialreports/news-article.aspx?storyid=147962&catid=343

3. Hudson, FL story of woman and “locksmith”scammer www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story/Finding-a-trustworthy-locksmith/QNY61c7L3kiKAAAOnpMSEQ.cspx

4. Orlando woman and “locksmith” scammer www.clickorlando.com/news/14656112/detail.html

National locksmith association changes ethics code - almost

When the Associated Locksmiths of America (ALOA) issued a press release Tuesday to explain a recent change in their Code of Ethics concerning deceptive advertising, I began to wonder exactly how many of their 8,000 national members were violating the code. The previous code stated that members should "abstain from using improper or questionable methods of soliciting patronage..."

According to the press release, the new language added directs all members to “advertise and conduct business in a non-deceptive manner.”

ALOA President Ken Kupferman said the association does receive a lot of complaints daily but not about members. He wasn’t certain if members were using deceptive advertising practices, but said the change puts any members doing so on notice.

“We don’t want to be associated with people like that,” Kupferman said. He suggested I speak to Attorney Tim McMullen, ALOA’s legislative manager who handles complaints.

McMullen could cite only one case – a woman in Washington, D.C. who called to complain that a member locksmith was using her address on his website and wanted it removed. McMullen said they notified the member and they are waiting on a response.

One out of 8,000 members. I’d say that’s a pretty good record in anyone’s book.

To see the entire code go to: http://aloa.org/pdf/ethicode.pdf, but wait a few days. The change hasn’t made it to the website yet.