As the interminable lines at DMV offices grow longer and timely appointments become nearly impossible to schedule, an Oakland startup offering “expedited appointments” for $19.99 has seen its business boom.

Department of Motor Vehicles investigators are looking into how the company, YoGov, which partners with the website DMV.org, can guarantee appointments within two weeks when most visitors to the official DMV website (www.dmv.ca.gov) are lucky to find available slots within six weeks.

Long DMV waits are part of California culture, but lines at field offices — and the time it takes to get an appointment — have worsened with the advent of Real ID licenses, which will be required for anyone who wants to use a driver’s license to take a commercial flight beginning in October 2020. To get the federally compliant driver’s licenses, applicants need to appear in person with a variety of documents. The Real ID licenses are not only drawing more people to the DMV, but the paperwork also takes clerks in the offices longer to process than a standard license.

What used to be a one- to two-hour wait for those without appointments often now takes four or more.

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All of which makes the idea of an expedited appointment more appealing. But a service like YoGov, which profits off the inefficiency of a public agency, has raised questions not only about the legality of such a business, but also concerns about whether it’s causing longer waits, and more inconvenience, for those who can’t or won’t pay for reservations.

Hana Callaghan, director of the government ethics program at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, noted that some people don’t have access to computers.

“Should people who have greater resources be given greater access to government services?” she asked.

The Chronicle contacted the DMV to learn more about the speedy appointments, and Deputy Director Armando Botello said the agency’s investigative unit is looking into YoGov, which is incorporated and registered with the secretary of state as YoGovernment Inc.

Botello offered few details on the investigation, but he said officials “found they are charging customers a fee and attempting to find an appointment using DMV’s online appointment system, which is free and available to everyone.”

The state attorney general’s press office declined to comment on YoGov — even to verify whether an investigation is under way. But the press office did say:

“If a business is making false or misleading claims about government affiliation, or being able to provide customers with faster or better service from the government, then the company is violating California law, including our Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law.”

YoGov charges $19.99 for the service, which it claims is a discount on its regular price of $32.99. A couple of weeks ago, the site advertised the service at $12.99.

“We continue to investigate this operation and remind DMV customers that we do not charge to schedule an appointment to visit a DMV field office,” Botello said.

Ryder Pearce, YoGov’s founder and CEO, said the company, is not doing anything illegal or unethical. His employees, he said, simply scour the DMV website and wait for desirable appointments to pop up, mostly due to cancellations.

“There’s nothing secret about it,” Pearce said. “It’s a bunch of people sitting around hitting refresh. We do it manually. It’s very high-touch at this point.”

No stranger to government, transportation or startups, Pearce co-founded Sherpa Share, an app that helps ride-hailing service drivers track their mileage, expenses and earnings, as well as an app-based ride-hailing service for children in Vancouver.

He decided to create YoGov about 18 months ago after it took him three visits to the DMV office on Claremont Avenue in Oakland, multiple phone calls and plenty of red tape simply to change the title on a vehicle.

Since June 1, when YoGov entered into a partnership with DMV.org, a website that offers information about state motor vehicle departments nationwide and shows up atop many Google searches, requests for expedited appointments have tripled, Pearce said.

Amy Smolens, an independent sports producer who lives in Albany, discovered YoGov’s expedited appointments when she tried to get a speedier appointment to get a Real ID before her license expired. She took to Google and got referred to YoGov through DMV.org, which is not affiliated with the DMV. She hesitated and asked friends on Facebook if anyone knew about the service.

“I just thought it seemed odd that an outside agency would have appointments when the DMV itself doesn’t have them,” Smolens said. “So, they can essentially scalp appointments like concert tickets.”

Some of her friends commented that it seemed like a scam, or at least unethical. One person said she paid her fee, $13 at the time, and she requested an appointment near her Albany home. YoGov got back to her with an appointment in San Francisco.

“When I told them I live in the East Bay and wanted an office closer to home, they never responded,” her friend wrote. “$13 down the drain.”

Instead of risking the same fate, Smolens decided to grab a book and wait in line at the El Cerrito DMV.

Botello would not say whether the DMV thinks YoGov is breaking any laws, because the matter is still under investigation. He also declined to discuss whether the company merely serves as a middleman for customers who don’t want to search the DMV website themselves, or whether YoGov is manipulating the online appointment process.

Precedent exists for barring private firms from selling government services for a fee.

In 2014, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera ordered startup MonkeyParking to cease and desist from selling street parking spaces via a mobile phone app. The app enabled people who planned to vacate a parking space on the street to auction off the right to pull into it, starting at $5. City ordinance makes it illegal to sell street parking in San Francisco.

The city attorney’s office declined to comment on private businesses selling access to government services.

Pearce, who said his background is in transportation planning, describes YoGov as a “concierge for government services,” focusing, for now, on the DMV.

YoGov searches for an appointment much as an executive might assign his assistant to keep looking for better times and dates, he said. “You’re paying someone to search on your behalf, so it’s not creating a two-tier system,” Pearce said.

Callaghan, the Santa Clara University ethicist, said YoGov, with its offer of speedy appointments, gives the impression that the firm has an arrangement with the DMV.

“From a consumer protection standpoint, I’m concerned when companies seem to imply that they have better access than the public,” she said. “It concerns me that the public is being duped.”

Pearce said YoGov isn’t “harvesting” timely appointments by somehow signing up for them in bulk and then changing names. He also said YoGov doesn’t sell its users’ data.

But YoGov does have an interest in working with the DMV, Pearce said, adding that he’s had limited contact with the state agency by email and a phone call after being contacted by The Chronicle. He said he hopes to set up a face-to-face meeting soon.

“They’re curious to learn more about us, but I think it’s friendly,” Pearce said. “Basically, they want to know more about us.”

The company recently hired three new employees to keep up with demand, as some customers, like Smolens’ friend, have been overlooked. Customers who don’t get acceptable appointments, Pearce said, get refunds.

“In the past month, we’ve made a lot of improvements,” he said.

Meanwhile, the DMV is attempting to make some improvements of its own. To handle the glut of Real ID applicants, the department now offers Saturday hours at some locations and has increased staffing during the week, officials said.

Still, long waits persist.

Smolens recently arrived at the El Cerrito DMV office just before it opened at 8 a.m. and left — seven hours later — with a paper temporary license and the promise of a Real ID to be mailed.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan