Company officials say they do not engage in deceptive sales practices.
The constable warns that salespeople from Premier Impressions were falsely stating that they represent the Kennedale Chamber of Commerce and the Kennedale Police Department.
The company also operates using these names: Premier Map Co., Hometown Productions, Multi Marketing Corp., D&L Map Service, Gildenblatt Enterprises and Texas High School Publications, according to the Better Business Bureau.
Burgess asks anyone who has been contacted by these businesses in the past year to call his office at 817-473-5110.
Not in your corner
I bet you got a notice from a company asking you to let it fight your property taxes.
O'Connor & Associates of Houston sent me a copy of my property tax statement with a handwritten note: "Your property taxes are too high! Call me, Carol."
I didn't call.
A week later, the Texas attorney general's office sued the company for filing tax protests without taxpayers' consent, failing to appear at clients' tax protest hearings and submitting fraudulently notarized documents.
Company President Patrick O'Connor issued a written statement saying that the Harris County Appraisal District was behind the AG's investigation because of all the tax protests his company leads in that district.
A second company official acknowledged mistakes: "For any known errors, we sincerely regret the inconvenience it may cause, and wish to apologize to our clients."
Their inconvenience is somebody else's horror.
Two praises to sing
Some good news. Two problems we've followed have been resolved. The Watchdog has criticized, so now I must praise.
Four years ago, The Watchdog reported that Fort Worth had fallen years behind in conducting its required annual financial audits. City officials never informed the City Council and mayor until I requested details of the failure.
Now after four years and more than $9 million in taxpayer costs, the audits are current. Thank you to the anonymous tipster who alerted The Watchdog four years ago.
And three cheers for state lawmakers who worked with the Texas departments of banking and insurance, the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Texas and the industry to pass pre-need funeral contract reform laws. The new laws should bring transparency and sound fiscal practices to buying a funeral contract before you need it.
Tweet me
For fun, follow The Watchdog on Twitter -- user name is DaveLieber. I do live coverage with photos of events, conduct research, find sources and share information in my tweets.
Online extras Find more Watchdog columns, investigative reports and product recalls at star-tele- gram.com/watchdog
The Watchdog column appears Fridays and Sundays. Dave Lieber, 817-685-3830
-----
To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
NYSE:RSH,
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
