Langeland Family Cremation Center cited for operating without license
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Langeland Family Cremation Center operated for three years without a license, according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
The state agency issued a cease and desist order to Langeland Family Cremation Center, Inc. in Kalamazoo Thursday.
The cremation center, located at at 6628 Tall Oaks Drive in Kalamazoo, has been operating without a license in 2019, according to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, or LARA.
The order states the funeral home is to stop operating until they get a crematory license under the Cemetery Regulation Act and pay a $10,000 fine.
Langeland Family Cremation Center, Inc. said they would voluntarily cease operation of the crematory facility, according to LARA.
In May LARA's Corporations, Securities and Commercial Licensing Bureau determined the unlicensed crematory was open for business and preparing to cremate a dead body while it was conducting a routine prelicensure inspection of a funeral establishment located nearby.
"It is imperative that, in addition to obtaining other necessary permits, that a person obtain a registration under the Cemetery Regulation Act before establishing and operating a new crematory facility or obtaining ownership of an existing crematory," , Securities and Commercial Licensing Bureau Director Linda Clegg said.
The process ensures that crematories are operated correctly for the safety of Michigan residents and the dignity of the deceased, Clegg said.
During the time, Langeland Family Funeral Homes Westside Chapel was being inspected as a result of new ownership.
The funeral home was offering human and pet cremation services and it was determined that Gregory N. Langeland supervised or managed the unlicensed crematory facility when it began operating on August 2019, according to LARA's Corporations, Securities and Commercial Licensing Bureau.
Future owners who intend to establish a new crematory facility or buy an existing crematory facility must submit an application for a permit to establish it.
Or an application for licensure to the Cemetery Commissioner, housed within CSCL, and pay a $1,500 investigation fee.
No one on behalf of the respondent notified CSCL that it intended to establish or operate a crematory facility to cremate human remains before CSCL’s site visit in May, according to LARA.
CSCL’s investigation into this matter remains ongoing, once completed CSCL may bring additional charges against the respondent or others under the Occupational Code or Cemetery Regulation Act.
The Cemetery Commissioner may, in addition to issuing a cease and desist order, seek injunctive or other relief from the appropriate circuit court to enforce compliance with the Cemetery Regulation Act or take other appropriate action until the respondent and others with a controlling interest in the crematory divest themselves of any interest or control in it, according to LARA.
Anyone with information is asked to call LARA’s Corporations, Securities & Commercial Licensing Bureau at 517-241-9221 or email CSCLonline@michigan.gov.