Bureau of Household Goods and Services

Licensed professionals stand ready to help make your home safer You can’t see it, hear it, or smell it, but it causes more than 400 U.S. deaths and 50,000 emergency-room visits each year. But you can stop carbon monoxide (CO) from harming you and your family. Carbon monoxide is an…

Decades of change to save children “Ready or not, here I come!” When kids heard that famous hide-and-seek phrase in the early and mid-20th century, several turned to a unique place to hide: the refrigerator. An innocent-looking refrigerator—whether new and running in the kitchen or abandoned and cast off in…

Tragedy turns into safety for Californians’ commonly used household items You may have heard of the Great San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, 1906, which ranks as one of the most devastating earthquakes of all time. But the massive fires that followed in its wake are what truly laid waste…

When Martha and Enrrique Gallard packed up their belongings in Georgia and sent them off in a moving truck headed to their new home in California, they had no idea what problems were awaiting them. But the Gallards were lucky: they found an ally in the Bureau of Household Goods…

Dishwasher sprung a leak? Diamond ring losing that special sparkle? TV on the fritz? Lawnmower stopped lawn-mowing? When a big-ticket item like a major appliance, jewelry, or garden equipment breaks, you may have a service contract or extended warranty contract to bail you out of trouble. These contracts cover your…

Spring is in full swing, and summer’s just around the corner. As temperatures rise in California, so do home sales, and that means people start thinking about moving. May is National Moving Month, and the California Department of Consumer Affairs’ Bureau of Household Goods and Services (BHGS), regulator of the…

After years of successful regulation of the thermal insulation and electronic and appliance repair industries, the California Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair, Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation (BEARHFTI) became the regulator of the home moving and storage industry, taking the reins from the California Public Utilities Commission in July…

If you’re moving within (“intrastate”) or out of state (“interstate”), or if a damage restoration company is moving or storing your goods while rebuilding your home, did you know there are laws protecting you from predatory “bandit” companies that extort money from customers while holding goods hostage? Read about how…