From the Star-Ledger:

State lawmakers want the Attorney General’s Office to reduce the time it takes to investigate complaints against professionals and other workers it regulates, saying the current process puts both consumers and professionals at risk.

The Senate Commerce Committee yesterday approved a bill (S846) that would require the office’s Division of Consumer Affairs, which regulates more than 80 professions and occupations, to re solve consumer complaints within 120 days.

It now takes 400 days, on average, for the division to investigate the more than 4,000 complaints it gets each year from consumers alleging misconduct by professionals ranging from plumbers and barbers to architects and physicians.

Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D- Union) said members of the various professional boards within the Division of Consumer Affairs have complained to him that staff has been “stripped bare,” complaints are given “short shrift” and potentially dangerous professionals are allowed to practice because the state ignores complaints against them.

Read the Rest…