ALJDEC - Licensing
2025A-04544-NPC-ROC · Registrar of Contractors · 2025-09-04
IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
Desert Haven Building & Construction LLC,
COMPLAINANT,
v.
T & T Cleaning and Restoration LLC
License No. ROC 294742,
RESPONDENT.
No. 2025A-04544-NPC-ROC
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE DECISION
HEARING: August 6, 2025 at 1:00pm and August 22, 2025 at 11:00am
APPEARANCES: Victor Caro and Erica Velarde on behalf of Complainant Desert Haven Building & Construction, LLC. No appearance on behalf of Respondent.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Nicole Robinson
EXHIBITS ADMITTED INTO EVIDENCE: Arizona Registrar of Contractors Notice of Hearing Packet (“Packet”).
FINDINGS OF FACT
T & T Cleaning and Restoration, LLC (“Respondent”) was the holder of License No. ROC 294742 issued by the Registrar of Contractors (“Registrar”).
On or about May 6, 2025, Desert Haven Building & Construction, LLC (“Complainant”) filed a Complaint against Respondent with the Registrar alleging that Respondent had failed to pay Complainant the sum of $42,637.14 for residential reconstruction projects.
After the Complaint filing, Respondent made payments including a payment made to Complainant on July 25, 2025, in the total amount of $10,438.20.
The current outstanding balance totaled $16,526.00 which stem from three outstanding invoices, detailed as follows:
Invoice #1249 in the amount of $680.00.
Invoice #1015 in the outstanding amount of $2,739.50.
Invoice #1013 in the outstanding amount of $13,106.50.
The parties were unable to resolve their differences, and Complainant requested an administrative hearing. On June 2, 2025, the Registrar then issued a Citation for Alleged Violation of Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-1154(A)(10).
In its Answer, Respondent did not assert that it lacked the capacity to pay the amount Complainant asserted was due. Respondent did write “[Respondent] has paid to [Complainant] when collecting payments come in and will continue to do so.”
The Registrar referred the matter to the Office of Administrative Hearings, an independent state agency, for an evidentiary hearing.
The Registrar issued a Notice of Hearing, setting a hearing at 1:00pm on August 6, 2025. The Registrar mailed copies of the Notice of Hearing to Respondent at its address and email address of record.
On July 3, 2025, an Order was sent to the parties from the Office of Administrative Hearings which advised the parties how to connect to the hearing via Google Meet.
The hearing was held via Google Meet on August 6, 2025. Respondent did not request that the hearing be continued. Although the start of the hearing was delayed approximately 15 minutes, Respondent did not appear through an authorized member, employee, or attorney. Consequently, Respondent did not present any testimonial evidence to defend its license.
On August 7, 2025, Respondent communicated with the Office of Administrative Hearings and requested a rehearing and provided new email contact information. Later that day, this Administrative Law Judge granted the rehearing and asked staff to provide Respondent with the recording of the August 6, 2025 hearing.
On August 7, 2025, a Further Hearing Date and Order Allowing Virtual Appearance Via Google Meet was emailed to both parties with the further hearing date scheduled on August 22, 2025 at 11:00am.
The further/rehearing was held via Google Meet on August 22, 2025. Respondent did not request that the hearing be continued. Although the start of the hearing was delayed approximately 15 minutes, Respondent did not appear through an authorized member, employee, or attorney. Consequently, Respondent did not present any testimonial evidence to defend its license and the hearing from August 6, 2025 became the primary record for this matter.
Hearing Evidence
Victor Caro, owner of Complainant business, testified on his own behalf and presented the testimony of Erica Velarde, co-owner of Complainant business. The substantive evidence of record is as follows:
Complainant stopped accepting work from Respondent in 2024 due to lack of payment.
Respondent company was sold but kept the same name and the Registrar license number became ROC 359263 and the main contact was Victor Browning.
The outstanding amount owed to Complainant was $16,526.00.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The burden of proof at an administrative hearing falls to the party asserting a claim, right, or entitlement and the standard of proof on all issues in these matters is 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.”
Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-1154(A)(10) includes among the grounds for suspension, revocation, or other disciplinary action against a contractor’s license,
[f]ailure by a licensee or agent or official of a licensee to pay monies in excess of $750 when due for materials or services rendered in connection with the licensee's operations as a contractor unless the licensee proves that the licensee lacks the capacity to pay and has not received sufficient monies as payment for the particular construction work project or operation for which the services or materials were rendered or purchased.
The preponderance of the evidence shows that Respondent owed Complainant more than $750.00 for materials/services provided in connection with Respondent’s operations as a contractor.
Complainant provided a through breakdown of all monies still owed to them. As such, the evidence established that Respondent owed a total of $16,526.00 for reconstruction work.
Respondent failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that it lacked the ability to pay Complainant for the work performed.
Therefore, Complainant established that Respondent violated Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-1154(A)(10) by failing to pay Complainant $16,526.00 for services or materials rendered in connection with Respondent’s contracting business.
Based upon Respondent’s violation of the provisions of Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-1154(A)(10), grounds exist to impose discipline against Respondent’s license
RECOMMENDed order
Based on the foregoing,
It is recommended that the Registrar suspend Respondent’s License No. 359263 issued by the Registrar until it has provided to the Registrar, and the Registrar has accepted, documents that establish that it has paid Complainant $16,526.00 in certified funds.
It is further recommended that when and if the Registrar receives and accepts Respondent’s evidence that it has paid Complainant $16,526.00 in certified funds, the Registrar may close the Complaint in Case No. 2025A-04544.
Pursuant to Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 41-1092.08(I), the licensee may accept the Administrative Law Judge Decision by advising the Office of Administrative Hearings in writing not more than ten (10) days after receiving the decision. If the licensee accepts the Administrative Law Judge Decision, the decision shall be certified as the final decision by the Office of Administrative Hearings.
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 forty (40) days from the date of that certification.
Done this day, September 4, 2025.
/s/ Nicole Robinson
Administrative Law Judge
Transmitted by either mail, e-mail, or facsimile to:
Tom Cole, Director
Registrar of Contractors
c/o Legal Department
1700 W. Washington Street, Suite 105
Phoenix, AZ 85007
[email redacted]
T & T Cleaning and Restoration LLC
420 E Columbia St
Tucson, AZ 85714-2747
[email redacted]
Desert Haven Building & Construction LLC
1701 E Minorka
Tucson, AZ 85706
[email redacted]
By: OAH Staff