STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

FLORIDA REAL ESTATE COMMISSION, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 78-1622

) P.D. NO. 3373

GRACE F. MAZON, )

)

Respondents. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This matter came on for hearing in Gainesville, Florida, before the Division of Administrative Hearings, by it duly designated Hearing Officer, Robert T. Benton, II, on October 6, 1978. Petitioner was represented by counsel:

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Fred Langford, Esquire

Florida Real Estate Commission

400 West Robinson Street Post Office Box 1900 Orlando, Florida 32801

Respondent appeared in propria persona.

By administrative complaint filed August 4, 1978, petitioner alleged that respondent failed to list certain "offenses for which she had been arrested and with which she had been charged" in response to question six on her application for registration as a real estate salesperson and thereby "obtained her registration. . .by means of fraud, misrepresentation or concealment." On these grounds, petitioner seeks to revoke respondent's registration, citing Section 475.25(2), Florida Statutes (1977).

FINDING OF FACT

1. Question six on the application for registration as a real estate salesman which respondent furnished petitioner in December of 1977 asked:

   
   

   Have you ever been arrested for, or charged with, the commission of an offense against the laws of any municipality, state or nation including traffic offenses, (but not parking, speeding, inspection or traffic signal violations), without regard to whether convicted, sentenced, pardoned or paroled?

   Petitioner's exhibit No. 2.

   Respondent answered this question with the word "Yes." The form then commands: "If yes, state details including the outcome in full." Petitioner's exhibit No.

2. In the space next to this direction, respondent wrote: "charged w/ forgery, sentenced 2 yrs. Fla. Corr. Inst. (Lowell) on May 30, 1974-served full term." Petitioner's exhibit No. 2. To her application respondent attached two additional sheets on which she gave a detailed account of her forgery conviction and outlined some of her activities since leaving prison. The penultimate paragraph of this notarized addendum states:

   
   

   If the Commission desires any further information or explanation of my past or present activities I will be glad to furnish whatever you may request.

   
   

   Respondent executed the affidavit at the bottom of the application form, reciting that she had "carefully read the foregoing application, answers and the attached statements, if any, and that all such answers and statements are true and correct, and are as complete as her knowledge, information and records permit, without any evasions or mental reservations whatsoever. Petitioner's exhibit No. 2.

   
   

   1. Respondent has been arrested on 15 to 20 different occasions and was imprisoned for a year in New Jersey before she moved to Florida. She testified that she thought that listing her most serious offense on the application would lead the commission to discover the other offenses and arrests. At one time she was addicted to heroin but, after a transitional dependence on methodone, she seems to have overcome the addiction. She sought and obtained her real estate salesperson's license under the sponsorship of a Vocational Rehabilitation office in Gainesville.

      
      

      CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

      
      

   2. Section 475.25(2), Florida Statutes (1977), requires revocation of registration where registration "is found to have been obtained. . .by means of fraud, misrepresentation, or concealment" and goes on to provide that registration "may be revoked. . .without prejudice to filing a proper application. . .if the same shall have been granted. . .through the mistake or inadvertence of the commission." Section 475.25(2), Florida Statutes.

      
      

   3. The evidence did not establish that the commission would have denied respondent's application if she had answered all questions on the application form truthfully.

RECOMMENDATION

Upon consideration of the foregoing, it is RECOMMENDED:

That petitioner revoke respondent's registration as a real estate salesperson, without prejudice to the filing of a proper application.

DONE and ENTERED this 26th day of October, 1978, in Tallahassee, Florida.

ROBERT T. BENTON, II

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

(904) 488-9675

COPIES FURNISHED:

Fred Langford, Esquire

Florida Real Estate Commission

400 West Robinson Street Post Office Box 1900 Orlando, Florida 32801

s. Grace Fararo Mazon Rt. 1, Box 40 R-5

Gainesville, Florida 32601

Ms. Grace F. Mazon

c/o Marguerite L. Rhea

816 North West 13th Street Gainesville, Florida 32601

Docket for Case No: 78-001622

Orders for Case No: 78-001622