After Ohio State Senator Kevin Bacon saw a documentary on Dateline highlighting an Ohio consumer who was a victim of some bait-and-switch deception by an air duct cleaning company, he decided to tackle the issue in the cleaning business through new legislation. Senator Bacon explained in a recent press conference that this bill is designed to protect consumers, and to protect duct cleaning businesses that are running legitimately.

What this legislation means to cleaning companies:

To do business in Ohio, any Air Conveyance System Cleaning company must register with the state, regardless of whether they live in the state, or whether the business is located in the state of Ohio. The registration will require a fee, an application, and a disclosure statement saying whether the applicant has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any crime. An applicant can be denied if they’ve been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude or dishonesty and safety in performing air conveyance system cleaning services. Contractors may not offer, perform or advertise cleaning services without registering first. And, the registration must be done annually.

The bill also requires that companies do not misrepresent the benefits of system cleaning, their affiliation or certifications, or say that a consumers system has a dangerous substance inside if it does not. Seems pretty reasonable, right?

The rules get a little more daunting as the bill requires that companies must display their new registration number on their vehicles, in their place of business, in all advertisements going out in the state, on business documents, contracts and any correspondence going to consumers for air conveyance system cleaning services. For businesses operating in multiple states, this complicates things a bit.

The proposed legislation goes on to say that companies must not perform any services without a written contract, which, is just good business anyway. The contract must include the registration number, proof of commercial general liability insurance, and the total price or other consideration to be paid, including the finance charges.

What this legislation means to consumers:

The director of commerce will be tasked with creating a searchable online database system where consumers can readily identify registered companies. If a company has been shady in the past, the consumer should be able to tell quickly.

Hopefully, fly-by-night con artists will be deterred, at least in the state of Ohio. If not, consumers will have a fast way to report them.

For the complete text of the bill, click here.