ALJDEC - Licensing
2025A-05953-CHC-ROC · Registrar of Contractors · 2025-11-17
IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
Sammy Combs Jr,
COMPLAINANT,
v.
MNF ELECTRIC LLC,
License No. ROC 340634,
RESPONDENT.
No. 2025A-05953-CHC-ROC
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE DECISION
HEARING: October 27, 2025.
APPEARANCES:
For Complainant: Sammy Combs Jr.
For Respondent: Francisco Rosales.
For the Registrar of Contractors: David Fagerburg.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Samuel Fox
EXHIBITS ADMITTED INTO EVIDENCE: Notice of Hearing Packet submitted by the Registrar of Contractors.
_____________________________________________________________________
FINDINGS OF FACT
MNF ELECTRIC LLC, (Respondent) was the holder of License No. 340634 issued by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (Registrar) on September 8, 2022.
On or about December 8, 2023, Sammy Combs Jr. (Complainant) entered a contract with Respondent for, among other things, electrical work.
On or about June 13, 2025, Complainant filed a Licensed Complaint Form with the Registrar, claiming abandonment.
The Registrar assigned the complaint to Investigator David Fagerburg, who conducted a noticed Jobsite Inspection on July 29, 2025, and Respondent was not present. On July 31, 2025, Investigator Fagerburg issued a Written Directive From the Registrar requiring Respondent to correct the work, therein identified as defective, by appropriate means.
On or around August 19, 2023, Complainant informed Investigator Fagerburg that no corrective work had been performed on the project.
On August 20, 2025, the Registrar issued a Citation against Respondent, finding cause to charge Respondent with violations of A.R.S. § 32-1154(A)(1); A.R.S. § 32-1154(A)(3), specifically R4-9-108(A); A.R.S. § 32-1154(A)(12), specifically A.R.S. § 32-1158, and A.R.S. § 32-1154(A)(22).
On August 27, 2025, Respondent submitted an Answer to the Citation.
The Registrar referred the matter to the Office of Administrative Hearings, an independent state agency, for an evidentiary hearing.
Investigator Fagerburg testified in support of his findings. He testified that he communicated with Respondent during the process.
Complainant testified about his experience.
Respondent’s witness testified that he was deported to Mexico on or around April 15, 2025, and he returned to the United States on or about August 27, 2025. He testified that he did not write or agree to the contract provided; the parties made a verbal agreement. He testified that some of the work reviewed by the investigator was done by the air conditioning contractor, not him. He testified that the contract was for $45,000.00 and he received an additional $5,000.00. Respondent testified that approximately $3,000.00 of materials owned by Respondent were missing from the job site.
Administrative notice was taken of Respondent’s prior License record on November 13, 2025. According to that record, Respondent’s License had one open complaint against it.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
This matter lies within the Registrar’s jurisdiction.
Complainant bears the burden of proof to establish Respondent’s statutory violations by a preponderance of the evidence. Respondent bears the burden of proof to establish an affirmative defense 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.”
Deportation, like other unavailability, does not overcome a Respondent’s obligation to correct poor workmanship by appropriate means if Respondent was properly notified. To correct by appropriate means is not limited to performing the corrective work directly. It includes alternative resolutions, such as monetary settlement or subcontracting, if permitted under a Respondent’s license. However unlike some other unavailability, deportation is a legal reason for failing to appear at the worksite. The preponderance of the evidence established that Mr. Rosales was deported in the process of performing the work. Therefore, he neither abandoned nor refused to perform the work, he was prevented from doing so by law enforcement.
The preponderance of the evidence failed to establish that Respondent abandoned the project or refused to perform work without a legal excuse.
The preponderance of the evidence established that Respondent failed to perform all work in a professional and workmanlike manner in violation of A.R.S. § 32-1154(A)(3), namely A.A.C. R4-9-108(A).
The preponderance of the evidence established that Respondent failed to comply with this chapter in violation of A.R.S. § 32-1154(A)(12), namely the contract requirements in A.R.S. § 32-1158.
The preponderance of the evidence established that Respondent failed to take appropriate corrective action following a written directive from the Registrar in violation of A.R.S. § 32-1154(A)(22).
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Based on the foregoing, it is recommended that on the effective date of the Order, the Registrar shall suspend for one day Respondent’s License No. 340634.
It is further recommended that within thirty days of the effective date of the Order Respondent shall provide a written contract to the Registrar which establishes compliance with the requirements in A.R.S. § 32-1158. If Respondent fails to comply, Respondent’s license shall be suspended until it provides a compliant contract.
Pursuant to A.R.S. § 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, November 17, 2025.
/s/ Samuel Fox
Administrative Law Judge
Transmitted by either mail, e-mail, or facsimile to:
Tom Cole, Director
Registrar of Contractors
David Fagerburg
[email redacted]
Sammy Combs Jr
[email redacted]
MNF ELECTRIC LLC
[email redacted]
By: OAH Staff