ALJDEC decisions subject to certification as final

2016A-560-ROMC-ROC · Registrar of Contractors · 2017-05-16

IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

Registrar of Contractors

COMPLAINANT

-v-

Hartman-Hunter Development, Inc., for

License Nos. B-1.248725-C

and B.228062-R,

RESPONDENT.

No. 2016A-560-ROMC-ROC

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE DECISION

HEARING: May 12, 2017, at 1:00 p.m.

APPEARANCES: The Arizona Registrar of Contractors (“the Registrar”) was represented by Thomas Raine, Esq., Assistant Attorney General; Hartman-Hunter Development, Inc. (“Respondent”) failed to appear.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Diane Mihalsky

_____________________________________________________________________

FINDINGS OF FACT

Respondent is a corporation that holds License Nos. B-1.248725-C and B.228062-R.

On January 18, 2017, the Registrar issued a Citation charging cause to suspend or revoke Respondent’s licenses under A.R.S. § 32-1154(A)(20) because Respondent “[had] a person named on the license[s] who is named on any other license in this state or in another state which is under suspension or revocation unless the prior revocation was based solely on a violation of this paragraph.”

The Citation explained that Malik Cordell Bankey (“Mr. Bankey”) had been listed on Nevada License No. 0078570 that the Nevada State Contractors Board (“Nevada Board”) had issued to Summerlin Energy Las Vegas, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company (“Summerlin”), and that the Nevada Board had revoked the Nevada license on or about March 31, 2016.

The Registrar referred the matter to the Office of Administrative Hearings, an independent state agency (“OAH”), for an evidentiary hearing. On March 30, 2017, the Registrar issued a Notice of Hearing, setting a hearing on May 12, 2017, at 1:00 p.m. The Registrar sent the Notice of Hearing to Respondent at its addresses of record.

Respondent did not request to appear telephonically at the duly noticed hearing or that the hearing be continued. Although the beginning of the duly noticed rehearing was delayed twenty-three minutes to allow Respondent additional travel time, it did not appear, through a duly authorized officer, employee, or attorney, and did not contact OAH to request that the time for the hearing be further delayed. Consequently, Respondent did not present any evidence to defend its contractor’s licenses.

The Registrar presented the testimony of its employee, Bonny Allan, a Staff Attorney in the Registrar’s Legal Department, and submitted seven exhibits to establish the facts set forth below.

On or about December 13, 2006, Respondent submitted the application for License No. 228062. Kirk Hartman Larson (“Mr. Larson”) was the only person listed on the license application.

On or about October 30, 2008, Respondent submitted the application for License No. 248725. Mr. Larson was the only person listed on the license application.

On or about December 18, 2015, Respondent filed a completed Ownership/ Personnel Change form that added Mr. Bankey to Respondent’s License No. 248725. The Registrar added Mr. Bankey’s name to the License No. 248725 as a 1% owner. Ms. Allan testified that Mr. Larson has not filed anything with the Registrar to take Mr. Bankey off Respondent’s license.

The Arizona Corporation Commission’s records for Respondent show that since December 12, 2016, Mr. Bankey has been listed as Respondent’s vice president. Mr. Larson is listed as Respondent’s president. Ms. Allan explained that the Registrar checks the Arizona Corporation Commission’s records and lists on corporate licensees’ licenses the names of persons who are named as officers on the Arizona Corporation Commission’s records. The Registrar therefore added Mr. Bankey’s name to the persons listed on License No. 228062.

According to the Nevada Board’s records, Summerlin’s contractor’s license in Nevada was revoked on March 31, 2016.

According to the Nevada Secretary of State’s records, Mr. Bankey is an officer in Summerlin.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

This matter lies within the Registrar’s jurisdiction.

The Notice of Hearing that the Registrar mailed to Respondent at its addresses of record was reasonable and Respondent is deemed to have received the notice of the hearing.

The Registrar bears the burden of proof to establish grounds for suspension or revocation of Respondent’s licenses by a preponderance of the evidence. “A preponderance of the evidence is such proof as convinces the trier of fact that the contention is more probably true than not.”

The Registrar established that Respondent’s Nevada License No. 0078570 was revoked, that Mr. Bankey was listed on the Nevada license, and that Mr. Bankey is listed on Arizona License Nos. 248725 and 228062. Therefore, the Registrar established cause to suspend or revoke Respondent’s licenses under A.R.S. § 32-1154(A)(20).

RECOMMENDED ORDER

In light of the foregoing, it is ordered that on the effective date of the final order in this matter, Respondent Hartman Hunter Development Inc.’s License Nos. B-1.248725-C and B.228062-R shall be suspended until it removes Malik Cordell Bankey as an officer on the Registrar’s and on the Arizona Corporation Commission’s records.

In the event of certification of the Administrative Law Judge Decision by the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings, the effective date of the Order will be five days from the date of that certification.

Done this day, May 16, 2017.

/s/ Diane Mihalsky

Administrative Law Judge

Transmitted electronically to:

Jeffrey Fleetham, Director

Registrar of Contractors