How to Check a Moving Company License in California Before You Book
To check a moving company license in California you need two strings from the company and one free state search. Ask for the legal business name and the permit number, then run either one through the state's household mover register. It is ten minutes of an evening, and it settles a question no website about itself can settle.
I own AG Moving&Storage, and my crews work across Los Angeles and Orange County. People call me in the middle of comparing three quotes, trying to work out which of the three is a real company. This is the order I would use if I were hiring someone to move my own mother.
Two strings do most of the work: the legal name of the business, and its permit number.
The state's household mover search is the register that answers the licensing question for a move between two California addresses.
Ask by email, so the answer arrives in writing and you can paste it straight into the search box.
A brand name that returns nothing is common and not damning. A company that will not name the permit holder is a different matter.
The written estimate is the second check, and it tells you whether anyone actually worked out what they are lifting.
Run the search in the week you book. Permits have renewal dates, and last year's clean result says nothing about today.
Ask for two things before you check anything
Two things make the rest of this fast: the legal name of the business, and the permit number that goes with it. Everything else you might want to know is public and free once you hold those.
A CAL-T number is the permit number a licensed California household mover is issued, and it is the quickest way into the state search. Ask for it in an email or a text rather than on a call. You want the answer in writing, in a form you can copy and paste, and you want it from the company rather than from a listing somebody else wrote.
The reply is also the first honest test of the relationship. None of this is confidential, so there is no good reason for it to take a week or to come back annoyed. If one line of public information is hard work in November, imagine the conversation about a scratched dresser in December.
Where to check a moving company license in California
You check a moving company license in California through the household mover search run by the Bureau of Household Goods and Services, part of the Department of Consumer Affairs. The upper box takes a business name or a trading name. The lower box takes the permit number. Either one gets you to the record.
What you want back is a live record in the legal name you were given, carrying the same company name that appears on your estimate.
A blank result is a question, not a verdict. For example, a crew that quotes you as Sunset Movers may hold its permit under a limited liability company that appears nowhere on the website. That is ordinary in this trade. So ask for the permit holder's name, search that, and judge the company on whether it answers you.
If you want to see the business behind the brand, the Secretary of State's business search will tell you whether the entity exists on paper and whether it is still in good standing. It does not answer the licensing question. Treat it as a second opinion on identity.
Do the search in the week you book. Permits carry renewal dates, and a screenshot from last spring proves nothing about the company standing in your driveway.
The estimate is the second check
The estimate tells you nearly as much as the register does, because it shows whether anyone bothered to find out what they are lifting. A figure produced without a single question about your home is a guess wearing a nicer font.
Before you book, get the number in writing and ask one plain question: what is the most I can be charged? Then check that the figure was built on real details. A quote worth trusting knows the room count, the heavy items, the stairs or the elevator, and what the street looks like at both ends.
Comparison between companies only works when the estimates describe an identical job. Same crew size, same inventory, same access at both addresses. Otherwise you are comparing two different assumptions about your Saturday, and the cheapest assumption usually belongs to whoever understood your home least.
Double Drive Time is the California rule for how travel time is billed on a local move, and it applies to every hourly move. It belongs in the quote you are reading, not as a line you discover on the invoice. If an hourly rate looks lower than everyone else's and travel time is not mentioned anywhere, you have found the difference.
Ours works one way, for comparison. Two movers and a 24-ft truck from $119/hr, $40/hr for each extra mover, wrap and blankets already on the truck, and a written figure your bill does not go above. There is no deposit on standard bookings, and same-day or last-minute bookings may require one, confirmed with your quote. What a move costs breaks down what actually moves that number, from the access at both addresses to how much is packed before we arrive. Call (818) 391-8215 if you want a written figure to hold the others against.
Four questions that tell you who you are dealing with
Four questions do more than an hour of reading reviews, because they are answered live and you can hear the hesitation.
Who is coming, and how many of them? You want a crew size, and you want to know whether those movers work for the company you are hiring. Anyone who cannot say how many people are arriving has not priced your day properly.
What happens if it runs longer than the estimate? The answer should be a policy, and it should sound the same both times you ask. Get that part in writing too.
What does my building need from you? Most managed buildings want a certificate of insurance, and many hold you to a move-in window. A certificate of insurance is the proof of coverage a building asks a mover to send ahead of the day. Ask your manager what limits they want to see and who the document should name, then hand that to the mover. A gated complex in Irvine may also want the elevator booked and security told who is coming.
What are you going to do about the truck at my address? This is the question that separates a local crew from a call center. Some cities require a permit for a moving truck and most do not. Pasadena runs a moving vehicle parking permit with its own lead time and its own size threshold. Call your city's parking desk, or send us the address and we will check it when we quote.
For instance, a second-floor walk-up in Long Beach with no elevator and no space at the curb is a different day from a townhouse with a driveway, and both cost the same per hour. A mover who asks about the stairs and the street before quoting is telling you they have done this on your block. One who does not ask will find out on the morning, on your clock.
What should stop you booking
Some answers should stop you booking on the spot, and they are easier to recognize than most people expect.
A license number nobody will put in writing, or a name that returns nothing and no explanation offered when you ask.
No written estimate. Not a slow one, not one that comes later. None.
A large cash deposit asked for before anyone has looked at what you own.
An hourly rate quoted with travel time left out of the conversation entirely.
Pressure to sign today for a price that expires tonight.
One of these is a conversation. Two of them and you should be calling the next company on your list, because there are a lot of us and the good ones are not hard to find.
Keep your own record before move day
Your own record is the part nobody sets up in advance, and it takes twenty minutes. Walk each room with your phone and take video, opening cupboards and closets as you go. Photograph anything expensive, plus the back and the corners of furniture that already has a mark on it.
Set aside the irreplaceable things and move them yourself. Passports, birth certificates, jewelry, prescriptions and the hard drive with the photographs on it belong in your own car, not on anybody's truck. No amount of coverage replaces a document, and every experienced mover will tell you the same.
Then keep the paperwork. Get copies of everything you sign before loading starts, and copies of the completed documents at the end of the day. If something does go wrong, the bureau that licenses movers is also where a complaint lands. Its consumer page for movers carries the downloadable form, and the department also takes complaints online. Loss and damage claims have to go in writing within nine months of delivery, a deadline that sounds generous in June and disappears before the unpacking is finished.
Our license numbers
Our license numbers are USDOT 3610341 · CAL-T192465 · CA 602741 · MC 1525501. AG Moving&Storage is the trading name of Astana Group LLC, family-owned out of Norwalk since March 2021. Every job we take runs between two California addresses, from Los Angeles down through Orange County.
When you want a figure, call (818) 391-8215 any day between 8am and 8pm, or send us the details and we will come back in writing. The number we send is the most you will pay. Local moving sets out how a day is staffed, and about us introduces the family behind those license numbers, which is the part of a mover no register describes.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if a moving company is licensed in California?
Ask the company for its legal business name and its CAL-T permit number, then type either one into the state's household mover search at the Department of Consumer Affairs. You are looking for a live record under the legal name you were given. A blank result is not proof of anything by itself, because a lot of movers trade under a brand while the permit sits with a company nobody advertises, so ask for the permit holder's name before you draw a conclusion.
What should I ask a moving company before booking?
Ask five things. The legal name and permit number, who is coming and how many of them, what happens if the day runs longer than the estimate, what your building needs from the mover, and where the truck is going to park at both ends. The answers take one phone call and tell you more about a company than any review page.
Is a deposit normal when you book a mover?
Not for a standard booking. A large cash deposit demanded before anyone has looked at what you own is one of the oldest warning signs in this trade. At AG Moving&Storage there is no deposit on standard bookings, and same-day or last-minute bookings may require one, confirmed with your quote.
How long does it take to check a mover?
The search itself takes about a minute once you have the name. The slow part is waiting for the company to email you the legal name and permit number, so send that request the day you shortlist and give it a day to come back. Do the search in the week you book rather than the week you start shopping, because permits carry renewal dates.
What are the red flags when hiring movers in Los Angeles?
The four that matter most: a license number nobody will put in writing, no written estimate at all, a large cash deposit asked for sight unseen, and an hourly rate quoted with the travel time left out. One of those is a conversation. Two of them is a different mover.
