Question: Since January, when the state redesigned the website of the Regulated Industries Complaints Office (RICO), to search for complaints against contractors — hawaii.gov/dcca/rico/ business_online — you cannot find details on any complaint. Previously, you could look up basic information about a complaint. Now you have to specify “current” or “archived,” and you still don’t find what used to be there. Why? Their office is supposed to help the consumer, but they seem to be helping licensees instead.
Answer: In an attempt to ward off moves to restrict public access to complaint files, RICO changed the format of posting complaints against a business — basically displaying only bare-bones information.
“The disclosure of complaints information by RICO has been the subject of much discussion and legislation over the past several years,” said Daria Loy-Goto, RICO’s complaints officer.
She pointed to the introduction of House Bill 1212 in the state Legislature in 2010, which would have precluded RICO from reporting any record of complaints against a business and their dispositions. Gov. Linda Lingle vetoed the bill.
In 2011, House Bill 1141 “similarly sought to limit disclosure of complaints and would have had the practical effect of precluding RICO from disclosing the existence of any complaints,” Loy-Goto said.
The bill was carried over to the 2012 session but not acted on. (You can find the bills, as well as committee reports and testimony, at www.capitol.hawaii.gov/archives/2011.aspx.)The basic argument from those in the industries RICO licenses, such as contractors, dentists, veterinarians and electricians, is that there is no vetting of possibly malicious, frivolous or unsubstantiated complaints and that the public can check on any licensee by contacting the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, which includes RICO.
“Our office acknowledges that it is difficult to balance the competing interests of consumers in making knowledgeable decisions about the professionals they hire against a professional’s interest in avoiding negative connotations associated with a history of complaints,” Loy-Goto said.
Previously, even if no legal action was taken, information on complaints was posted for five years.
RICO still posts information on pending complaints, but only for two years and only to note that a complaint had been filed against a company and is “pending.” No details are given. After that the complaint is archived for three additional years.
“Outcome information” will be made available once a case is no longer pending: if it was resolved, if the complaint was withdrawn or if a warning letter was issued, Loy-Goto said.
To find information on archived cases, you have to call the License, Business and Information Section at 587-3295.
Complaints that result in disciplinary or legal action appear on the website for about five years from the compliance date.
Another change made involves RICO’s sister agency, the Office of Consumer Protection.
Complaints filed with OCP are now reported separately from RICO complaints, so consumers need to also check with OCP — hawaii.gov/dcca/ocp — for complaints against a regulated business.
“We have always felt strongly that it is in the best interest of the public to be apprised of pending investigations and cases in which an investigation was conducted that did not result in legal action,” Loy-Goto said. “Reporting such information allows RICO to issue warnings to the public and to solicit information from the public about possible law violators.”
MAHALO
To the kind good Samaritan lady at the Dillingham Marukai parking lot, who started our stalled car. I’m sorry we didn’t get your name.
— Grateful Mother and Daughter Kay and Linda
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