Members of the West Virginia’s Performance Evaluation and Research  Division (PERD) were called on to evaluate why funeral director  Chad Harding was allowed to maintain his license while being investigated and was found to have violated the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act and the West Virginia Preneed Funeral Contracts Act along with committing fraudulent acts.  Harding had been ordered by a federal judge to pay nearly $3 million to Homesteaders Life Insurance Company after cashing in the policies of about 100 people who weren’t dead according to an article in the Charleston Gazette Mail.

For over a year there has been considerable discussion if the West Virginia Board of Funeral Examiners took the appropriate actions when learning of Mr. Harding’s legal issues.  John Sylvia, Director of the PERD,  recently wrote in the report by that group that “the (funeral) board acted to protect the interest of one of its licensees more than the safety of the public” throughout the Harding case.”  Sylvia also wrote, ” The board has the authority to act appropriately and in a timely manner when it becomes aware that a violation has occurred by a licensee and a risk is posed to the public.  The board is required to act first and foremost in the interest of the public. . . . ”  The evaluation of the funeral service board also found that that board failed to exercise its authority in the case for 13 months after it became aware of Harding’s fraudulent activities and waited an additional 10 months before suspending his license.

The PERD review concluded that , “Ultimately, it is the opinion of the Legislative Auditor that the board chose to give preference to the licensee rather than the interest of the public. ”  The review also concluded that the Legislature should terminate the board and place its regulatory function under another agency, such as the Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau for Public Health.

Regina Anderson, Executive Director of the Funeral Service Board, replied that, “the board feels that it has been unfairly criticized regarding how this case was handled.”  However, Robert Kimes, Director of the West Virginia Funeral Directors Association commented, “The auditors did an excellent job identifying the West Virginia Board of Funeral Examiners’ failures to act prudently and in a timely manner. ”

Funeral Director Daily take:  This issue in West Virginia is probably not over.  While I don’t know every facet of it — it does show that an industry with a self-examining regulatory group must be non-discriminant or face public scrutiny.  It is my opinion that if a group just protects its own over the public  – which is what the accusation is in this case – then it is maybe time that someone else does the examining and sanctioning.  It will be interesting to see if the West Virginia legislature follows the PERD suggestions.

[wpforms id=”436″ title=”true” description=”true”]