A cemetery operator in several counties in northeast Georgia has agreed to state oversight for three years and make $375,000 in improvements to resolve complaints about its businesses practices, including allegedly charging thousands for headstones that were never delivered.
11Alive reports Barrow Memorial Gardens is one of five cemeteries operated by the same owner. The others are in Franklin, Hart and Jackson counties.
In Barrow County, the state found it took an average of 175 days for headstone/marker orders to go to a monument company that makes them.
A consent order between the cemeteries and the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office outlined other issues.
At two separate cemeteries in Franklin County, the delays were 152 days (Franklin Memorial Gardens South in Royston) and 64 days (Franklin Memorial Gardens in Lavonia). At Jackson Memorial Gardens in Commerce, the average delay was seven days.
Some of the properties also had maintenance issues noted by inspectors, such as anthills, mausoleum leaks, trash on the grounds and more.
The consent order outlines that if the operator does not make the full $375,000 in “improvement of the care and maintenance conditions of the properties,” the remainder shall be paid as a fine to the state. In the absence of compliance, the cemeteries could lose their business registration.