Blagojevich did do something right

Ousted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich apparently did something right in 2006 when his administration suspended the locksmith license of Dependable Locks and its owner, David Peer for giving a fraudulent address on its license application, for failing to provide a list of its licensed staff and for failing to cooperate with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) in its investigation. The company was then based out of New York, but has since relocated to Florida.

The Department also suspended Price Line, based out of New York as well. Both companies listed their businesses with Illinois addresses, advertised their businesses in phone directories and used local phone exchanges and business names in their ads.

Consumers called a local number not realizing the companies had set up Remote Call Forwarding (RCF) numbers with the local phone company that forwarded their calls to call centers in New York.

The call centers then dispatched a sub-contractor to do the work. Illinois law prohibits unlicensed sub-contractors to work as locksmiths. Locksmiths must carry their locksmith license and the agency must also be licensed. Both companies complied with getting a license for their businesses but not for their employees. Not only must the employee pass a background check, they are also required to pass an exam to prove competency as a locksmith. I guess it was too much of an investment for the companies.

Missouri Attorney General sues Florida locksmith company

Attorney General Chris Koster filed a lawsuit last Thursday to stop Dependable Locks, Inc. of Florida from fraudulent business practices. Koster is asking the court to approve an order which stops the company from advertising itself deceitfully with at least 16 different business names and bogus addresses and from charging consumers two to three times more than the price quoted for service. None of the 16 businesses are legally registered with the state to conduct business in Missouri.

Since Missouri is not one of 13 states with laws regulating the locksmith industry, Koster was required to go through the court process to stop the fraudulent activity. An online search of both the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives revealed that there is no locksmith legislation currently working its way through their legislative process.

In addition, Koster notified AT&T (a regulated industry) that it is carrying deceptive advertisements and demanded that the phone company take all appropriate steps to remove the ads, including removing them from electronic sites such as “The Real Yellow Pages” and yellowpages.com.

According to the State of Florida Division of Corporations website, Dependable Locks, Inc. is owned by David Peer of Dunedin, Fla. Peer lists his former address on the 2006 incorporation papers as Bronx, NY. He is listed as the sole officer of the company. According to the 2008 forms, the principal place of business is at 407 S. Arcturas Ave., Clearwater, Fla. 33765.

Koster requests that victims of Dependable Locks, Inc. file a complaint at www.ago.mo.gov or call his consumer hotline at 800-392-8222. Investigators in the Attorney General’s office found the following business names being used by Dependable Locks, Inc.:
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