Unfortunately, professional firms are lumped in with the potential bidders for office cleaning services.?ÿ The current janitorial service has been charging $250 per week for a specific situation.?ÿ An Invitation to Bid is sent out with all but one potential provider listing a bid of $200 to $275 per week.?ÿ The outlier's bid is $50 per week.?ÿ Red flags should appear immediately as to how can this firm actually do a proper job for one-fifth of alternative providers.?ÿ Sadly, people aren't that smart when it comes to picking a surveyor.
You were very close on your initial description. After walking through a few cases of unlicensed practice, I believe false personation is the best charge.
Unlicensed practice is a misdemeanor here. That means a one year statute of limitations. By the time the AG investigates and the first hearing comes up it has to be dismissed.
Fraud is too difficult to prosecute and has elements that may not be present.
False personation is a felony and many cases check all the boxes.
Every State has a best fit charge. Most send unlicensed practice through the criminal system. The Boards only have authority over licencees and certificate holders. Every professional society should know the process and players well. As Boards are stripped of authority across the country we need to learn to police our own. That includes walking the public through taking crooks to task...
I agree. You can't touch, feel, or smell a survey, so to too many people, it's not worth much.
An old CEO that I served had a great over-arching philosophy. He said, "You should always pay for information, regardless of the cost." A survey and its related marks and documents is information of the highest value.
On the other hand, another CEO that I served needed some extensive and expensive dental work done. He not only shopped the job, he negotiated the price down with his final choice.
I usually just pay people what they ask for their services.
It's only fraud if the unlicensed surveyor presented themselves as a licenced surveyor.?ÿ
@aliquot?ÿ
Understood. So by not saying they are not automatically implied they are acting fraudulently.
The crime of omission.
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@dmyhill?ÿ
Same with Idaho.?ÿ It's the most interesting part of the magazine actually.?ÿ heh
I know of one in my State that recently had his license revoked for a Felony Drug conviction. He's now working for the County reviewing our surveys before they can be filed.????
@jitterboogie Yep, no lie. His father was once the County Land Surveyor. Now it's "Do as I say, Not as I did".
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North Carolina publishes board disciplinary actions several times a year. I recall on revocation since I moved to NC at the start of 2005. The miscreant had had ongoing problems, which finally culminated with working on an expired license. Most of the time when loss of license is involved it's a voluntary surrender of the license to avoid worse.
That's supposed to be "no revocation."
Our Board here in Maine has disciplined a number of licensees.The two most common reasons seem to be 1). failure to provide client with a written confirmation of the contractual understanding, stating estimated cost and time frame (this is required by the Board's rules); and 2). false statements (lies basically) as to completion of the required continuing ed. hours. A few other relatively minor offenses have ended in fines, reprimands, etc. But a few fairly outrageous breaches of contract (taking a deposit and never showing up etc.) have earned more severe action. In one not too long ago the Board's report ended with: "The Board expressed its unanimous opinion that it would have revoked [offender's] license had he possessed one at the time of this hearing." The licensee in this case died not long afterward.
