FLEMING ISLAND – Amid Clay County’s burgeoning growth, MoveBright Moving and Storage, a local, family-owned company serving Clay County, warned the community about fraudulent, third-party moving companies, otherwise known as “moving brokers.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida has seen an unprecedented spike in new residents. In 2021, the U.S. Census reported 674,740 new residents relocated to the Sunshine State, a 12.2% increase from 2020. With up-and-coming communities on the rise, many people are making long-distance moves from northern and western states, and companies catering to those services are in popular demand.
But as the county’s allure continues to attract an influx of new residents, a troubling trend has emerged, leading to the rise of fraudulent moving companies, according to MoveBright Moving and Storage Director of Sales and Marketing Travis Bennett.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration defines these companies as entities that arrange for the transportation of your cargo, utilizing for-hire carriers to provide truck transportation.
“Moving brokers are sales teams that book your move and sell it to an actual moving company,” their website reads.
The broker is not a mover. It is not authorized to transport your household goods and doesn’t own moving trucks or employ professional movers.
Many are duped by a price quote that seems too good to refuse, which may very well be too good to be true.
A move for a three-bedroom house from New York to Florida for $3,000 may seem like a steal, but buyers beware: you could be in for a scam.
By the time the disaster is complete, you may be due $13,000 or more for a move originally quoted much lower.
“Although distorted, there is language that traps the customer into paying the full price,” Bennett said.
Lawsuits are often ineffective, as none of the companies are typically left on the hook for damages.
Company owners hire SEO experts to generate traffic, create a web landing page and contract work out to logistics companies that haul anything from fruit to freight. In the process, your personal belongings, which will likely be handled by day laborers who have no knowledge about professional moving, could be damaged, stolen or destroyed.
In the meantime, the third-party vendors of the moving broker have a litany of other tasks to complete, so expect about three to four business weeks to receive what remains of your belongings.
But even then, that is just the beginning of the painful experience most will endure when hiring moving brokers, Bennett said.
“There is constant theft and damaged property, with no ability to trace it back to the specific individual. The longer the distance, the worse your problems will be,” Bennett said.
This is just the beginning. When “Joe” and “Jim” from the brokerage refuse to answer your phone calls, an even more catastrophic scenario could unfold: your property being held hostage until you pay the total amount owed.
While racketeering charges are mounting against these fraudulent organizations at the federal level, the elusive nature of these small-scale scams has made it challenging to bring them to justice.
But the loopholes continue. After reading about the scams, clients falsely believe that Bennett and MoveBright operate under the same wild-west format.
“(Sometimes), we have to convince (customers) that we are legit,” he said.
Or customers unknowingly sign their services with the third-party vendor instead of MoveBright.
“I will (try to say), ‘You don’t have to go with me, but don’t go with them,’” Bennett said.
To bridge the gap, Bennett and MoveBright are taking a proactive approach. Bennett conducts seminars at events for real estate companies, such as Coldwell-Banker Vanguard Realty in Fleming Island.
Completing training sessions at real estate offices is another core process component.
“Educating agents so they can educate clients because they are the closest voice to their ears,” he said.
By establishing relationships with agencies, Bennett builds trust to book more moves, as home buyers often rely on the recommendations of those companies. But more important to him is helping residents moving to and from the area to avoid devious-minded moving brokers.
Bennett is a former detective and deputy with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. He said the county’s many attractions and relatively low cost of living means that the Clay has become a hotbed for new residents. He insists residents needing a moving company should do their homework before signing a contract.

“You have to do a journalist’s job and dig into these companies. Read Google reviews and listen to what other people are saying. People need to know what to look for. (Moving brokers) will lie straight to your face,” Bennett said.