I was driving east on Ross Avenue, near Fitzhugh Avenue, last week when a big yellow banner caught my eye. “Aseguranza sin Licencia -- Liability and Full Cover,” it read, which translates to, "No license? We provide liability and full coverage.” And that wasn’t all. The ad, hanging above a string of dilapidated storefronts at 4906 Ross Ave. under the name Tax Star Services, also proclaimed to “get rid of a suspended license in 2 to 3 days.” Huh? Heartening, isn’t it, to imagine people with revoked licenses careening around town with fraudulent insurance?
The place also advertises a notary public; they're notorious for robbing poor immigrants blind. But just in case, I called the Dallas Police Department to confirm.
“If they’re doing that they’d have to be doing it illegally,” Senior Corporal Janice Crowther tells Unfair Park. “The state law of Texas says you’ve got to have a driver’s license before you can get insurance. That’s false advertising, and it needs to be referred to our swindle unit.”
Apparently these swindlers think that just because they advertise in Spanish, the police won’t catch on. According to Crowther, it’s not uncommon.
“They figure they can cater to the Spanish-speaking community and rob their own people,” she says. “We had another company that was providing false inspection certificates and insurance cards. People ended up arrested and put in jail because of it.”
So, if you were thinking of having Tax Star Services clear up that little DUI problem that’s been keeping you out of the car, you might want to reconsider. --Megan Feldman