Booking through a moving broker? What federal rules say it must tell you

A lot of interstate moves are sold by brokers, companies that book your move and then hand it to a moving company that actually loads the truck. That's legal, but brokers that sell to individual households have their own set of federal rules, in 49 CFR Part 371, Subpart B. Knowing them makes it much easier to spot a broker that's cutting corners before you hand over a deposit. If you're not sure which kind of company you're talking to, start with how to tell a carrier from a broker.

Who these rules cover

The rules apply to household goods brokers offering services to individual shippers, meaning people moving their own belongings, in interstate or foreign commerce. They don't apply when a broker is serving a business or government shipper. A household goods broker is any company, other than a mover or the mover's employee or genuine agent, that sells, offers, negotiates, or advertises moves that will be carried out by a motor carrier.

1. It can only book you with an authorized mover

A broker may only arrange your move with a mover that has a valid, active USDOT number and valid FMCSA operating authority to haul household goods across state lines. Once you know which mover will show up, you can check that yourself with the FMCSA mover search. Our guide to reading a mover's FMCSA record explains what to look for.

2. Its ads and website must say what it is

A broker's ads and website homepage must prominently show:

• The physical location where it does business: street or highway address, city, and state.
• Its USDOT number and its MC number.
• That it's a household goods broker, that it won't transport your goods itself, and that it arranges the move with an FMCSA-authorized mover whose charges come from that mover's published tariff (its official list of rates and rules).

If it gives estimates on a mover's behalf, its website must also say that the estimate has to be based on the mover's tariff, and that the mover must make the tariff available for public inspection on reasonable request. A broker may only show the names or logos of authorized movers it has a written agreement with. A site that hides its address or numbers, or blurs whether it owns trucks, is missing things the rules require.

3. You get a list of the movers it uses

Anyone who contacts a broker about a move must be given a list of all the authorized movers it uses, with each one's USDOT and MC numbers. You must also get a statement that the broker is not a federally authorized mover for your goods and is only arranging for an authorized mover to do the work. Ask for that list early, and look the companies up.

4. You get the federal consumer booklets

A broker must give you FMCSA's consumer information, Ready to Move? and Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move. It can hand you copies when it gives an estimate, or give you a link to them on FMCSA's website if you agree to read them online. If you agree to the online version, the written estimate must say so. Either way, the broker has to get a signed, dated receipt from you and keep it for three years. A broker with a website must also prominently link to Ready to Move? on FMCSA's site or post an accurate copy.

5. Estimates must be in writing and based on the real mover's rates

A broker doesn't have to give an estimate, but if it does:

• It must be in writing.
• It must be based on the published tariff of the mover that will actually carry your things, not a made-up broker price.
• It must be based on a physical survey of your goods done by that mover, and prepared under a signed written agreement between the broker and the mover.

You can waive the physical survey, but only in a written agreement you sign before your goods are loaded. The broker must explain the waiver to you in plain English, and the waiver has to be printed on the written estimate. A copy is kept with the bill of lading. For more on surveys and the papers that should come with a quote, see moving estimates: the survey rule.

6. The broker's estimate counts as the mover's estimate

The broker's written agreement with each mover has to state that the broker's estimate is made only on that mover's behalf, is based on that mover's tariff, and serves as the mover's own estimate under the federal moving rules. That includes the rule that the mover must hand over your shipment once you pay no more than 110 percent of a non-binding estimate at delivery. In other words, the mover can't brush off a broker's estimate as someone else's number. See binding vs non-binding estimates for how those limits work, and what to do if a mover holds your goods hostage.

That agreement is public information. The broker must produce it for review on reasonable request, so you can ask to see the agreement with the mover assigned to your move.

7. Deposit, cancellation, and refund policies must be out in the open

A broker must prominently post on its website, and put in its agreements with customers, its cancellation policy, its deposit policy, and its policy for refunding deposits if you cancel before the date a mover has been scheduled to pick up your things. It also has to keep records of each cancellation request and what happened to it for three years, including proof that a refund was delivered or cashed. Read these policies before you pay anything, and keep a copy.

A quick checklist before you pay a broker

1. Find the broker's street address, USDOT number, and MC number on its website or ads.
2. Look the broker up on the FMCSA mover search and confirm it's registered as a broker.
3. Ask for its list of movers, with USDOT and MC numbers, and check those too.
4. Ask which mover will actually handle your move, and whether that mover will do a physical survey.
5. Get the estimate in writing and make sure it's based on that mover's tariff.
6. Read the deposit, cancellation, and refund policy, and save a copy.
7. Make sure you got, or were linked to, the two FMCSA booklets.

If a broker breaks these rules

Federal civil and criminal penalties apply to violations of these broker rules, and the regulation says the penalties don't take away any other right or remedy you have under existing law. FMCSA's own examples of complaints it accepts include a broker that didn't explain its cancellation, deposit, or refund policy. Here's how to file a complaint with FMCSA.