Damaged San Diego businesses get surprise bills
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SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – San Diego’s businesses that were damaged or vandalized during the night are receiving surprising bills of up to $ 921 from an unauthorized company called to board their windows, according to a city audit to be discussed on Wednesday.
The audit, released earlier this year, says San Diego police officers responding to vandalism or damage will call an unapproved contractor to board up the buildings when the owners are absent. The business owners who have not consented to the work will then receive bills from a third party between $ 516 and $ 921.
According to the audit, San Diego police officers are not authorized to enter into contracts on behalf of the city, but have been using this provider exclusively since 2014. In the past two years, the contractor has been working in more than 300 buildings.
“As part of our investigation, we contacted several San Diego business owners who had board-up services performed by the same provider and received copies of the individual bills they received,” the audit said. “We found that some of the individual charges billed were inconsistent and varied based on the number of hours billed for the service.”
The city opened its investigation after a business owner complained to its fraud hotline for receiving a $ 891.51 bill to repair a 4-by-6 broken window. The bill included an emergency service fee of $ 250. The audit says that SDPD tried to contact the shop owner through the alarm company, but after about 10 minutes asked the seller to enter the shop.
The audit did not identify the companies or the seller, but Freddie LaCarra confirmed that his company, 1-800-BoardUp, got the job done, including four calls outside of business hours on Monday evening.
He said the exam misses the main problem – San Diego police officers cannot stand around guarding an empty shop instead of patrolling the streets. He said his company doesn’t get paid half the time for its work and that billing is done through a program called Xactimate.
“We get up at 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 4 a.m.,” LaCarra said. “We’re going out, we’re doing this so the police can go ahead and protect us instead of sitting there and waiting for a business owner or homeowner to show up.”
The auditor recommends that the city amend its community code to specify how officials should deal with destroyed buildings, including the time they should wait there while trying to contact the owner.
The audit also recommends that the police enter into a competitive contract with a seller for building nailing up. This would go hand in hand with liability insurance obligations, prohibit unauthorized subcontractors and set maximum rates. The city hopes this will be in effect by April 1, 2023.
The city’s audit committee will consider the report at its meeting on Wednesday.
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