On the Road to Better Business
Online Journal
Sept. 22, 2008, Orlando
Customers are changing the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Without fail, after each “On the Road to Better Business” meeting, I return to our Tallahassee headquarters with greater insight into the customer experience of DBPR and new solutions to cumbersome processes. It is perfectly clear to me that customers are on the front lines of achieving Governor Crist’s “Accelerate Florida” initiative, which is intended to reduce regulatory burden and expedite licensing without jeopardizing public safety.
This past Monday, I visited with licensees and consumers in Orlando. Again, a common thread between this meeting and past meetings was unlicensed activity. Licensees are frustrated with unlicensed activity, particularly in the construction industry, and are asking for our help to increase efforts to combat unlicensed activity. We have heard the concerns and are now including enhancements to our annual unlicensed activity plan such as more sweeps and stings and partnerships with homeowners’ associations throughout the state.
Unfortunately, Cheryl, Alana, and Gina had all had negative experiences with licensed contractors. They were familiar with how to file a complaint with DBPR; however, they all asked whether there was more that could be done to prevent the situation. From these conversations, I realized the importance of educating consumers on Florida’s Construction Lien Law, which can help protect consumers from liens placed on their homes by unpaid subcontractors. While the waivers of lien are not administered or managed by DBPR (they are filed with county clerk of the circuit court offices), they do relate to working with our licensed contractors. We are now looking at partnering with local governments to spread the word about the importance of a waiver of lien.
One of the most promising parts of these meetings is hearing how pleased our customers are with being able to sit down with me and talk. I’d like to share some of the feedback I received from the meeting in Orlando.
- Good job! It’s nice to know that our public officials care enough to ask us questions.
- I’d love to speak with you again in the future about helping the DBPR be the best it can be.
- This was a great opportunity to bring issues directly to the Secretary and provide the Secretary with information on the challenges with licensure that he would not otherwise be privy to.
I am so grateful to everyone who has come out to meet me so far, and I look forward to meeting more customers in Jacksonville on Oct. 9 and later in Ft. Lauderdale. I enjoy my role as a liaison between the people we serve and the agency that can get the job done. I feel as though we’ve made great strides in extending the DBPR team to include the very people we serve.