STATE OF FLORIDA
DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL REGULATION, CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY LICENSING BOARD, | ) ) ) ) | |
) | ||
Petitioner, | ) | |
) | ||
vs. | ) DOAH CASE NO. | 86-1080 |
) DPR CASE NOS. | 0056629 | |
DAVID W. CROSBY, | ) | 0068600 |
) | 0071536 | |
Respondent. | ) | 0068263 |
)
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Notice was provided, and on February 18, 1987, in St. Augustine, Florida, a formal hearing was held in this case. The authority for the conduct of the hearing was Section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes. Charles C. Adams was the hearing officer. Petitioner was represented in the course of the hearing by counsel. Respondent made no appearance and was not represented. The opportunity has been provided the parties to submit proposed recommended orders. Counsel for Petitioner has availed himself of that opportunity. No proposal has been offered by Respondent. The suggested fact finding of the Petitioner's counsel has been examined and utilized in arriving at the factual findings in the recommended order. Modifications or changes to the fact proposals offered by Petitioner's counsel are discussed in the appendix to this recommended order.
APPEARANCES
FOR PETITIONER: W. Douglas Beason, Esquire
Department of Professional Regulation
130 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0750
FOR RESPONDENT: no appearance
ISSUES
The issues to be resolved in this case are those promoted by the second amended administrative complaint brought by the State of Florida, Department of Professional Regulation against the Respondent, David W. Crosby. Briefly, the basic allegations are that the Respondent granted to James Crosby, d/b/a U.S. Seamless Roof Systems, the unlimited opportunity to obtain building permits under the Respondent's contracting license. This arrangement, it is alleged, was in the face of a circumstance in which James Crosby was not registered, certified, or otherwise licensed by the Construction Industry Licensing Board, nor had the Respondent qualified U.S. Seamless Roof Systems with the Construction Industry Licensing Board. It is further alleged that between August 1982 and in or about 1985 James Crosby operated a roofing contracting business in St. Johns County, Florida, and in St. Augustine, Florida, and
utilized the Respondent's authorization to obtain certain building permits and that James Crosby then performed roofing work authorized by those permits. By reason of this arrangement Respondent is said to have violated Sections 489.119 and 489.129(1)(e) (f) (g) (j) and (m), Florida Statutes. There are additional allegations of similar nature pertaining to work in Brooksville and Inverness, Florida.
FINDINGS OF FACT
Facts found based upon responses to requests for admissions
propounded from Petitioner to the Respondent (see Petitioner's Exhibit 1 admitted into evidence)
Respondent's name is David W. Crosby.
Respondent is a certified roofing contractor in the State of Florida having been issued license number CC CO 15442.
At all times material to the pending Administrative Complaint, Respondent was a certified roofing contractor in the State of Florida having been issued license number CC CO 15442.
Respondent's license number CC CO 145442 is active for the period expiring June 30, 1987.
In or about August 1982, Respondent issued an unlimited authorization, addressed "To whom It May Concern," which authorized all building departments to issue roofing permits to Respondent's brother, James Crosby.
Said James Crosby was operating a roofing business in the period 1982 to 1985, in and about the St. Johns County and St. Augustine area.
On or about January 13, 1983, said James Crosby, d/b/a U.S. Seamless Roofing Systems obtained permit number 12102 from the City of St. Augustine.
Said permit, number 12102, was obtained to repair a roof for Zorayda Castle of 83 King Street, St. Augustine, Florida.
On or about February 3, 1983, said James Crosby, d/b/a U.S. Seamless Roofing Systems, obtained permit number 12122 from the City of St. Augustine.
Said permit, number 12122, was obtained to reroof the residence of Zorayda Castle of 83 Ring Street, St. Augustine, Florida.
On or about February 24, 1983, said James Crosby, d/b/a U.S. Seamless Roofing Systems, obtained permit number 12158 from the City of St. Augustine.
Said permit, number 12158, was obtained to reroof the residence of Lillian Perpall of 67 Abbott Street, St. Augustine, Florida.
On or about May 17, 1983, said James Crosby, d/b/a U.S. Seamless Roofing Systems, obtained permit number 12288 from the City of St. Augustine.
Said permit, number 12288, was obtained to reroof the residence of Emily M. Alexander of 20 Cuna Street, St. Augustine, Florida.
On or about May 2, 1983, said James Crosby, d/b/a U.S. Seamless Roofing Systems, contracted with Lawrence Golden to repair the roof at Golden's residence at 17 Bay View Drive, St. Augustine, Florida, for a contract price of
$985.
On or about March 28, 1984, said James Crosby, d/b/a U.S. Seamless Roofing Systems, used contractors license number CC CO 15442 to obtain permit number 3781-81 from St. Johns County Florida.
Said permit, number 3781-81, was obtained to reroof the residence of Burton Chase of St. Johns County, Florida.
On or about March 28, 1984, said James Crosby, d/b/a U.S. Seamless Roofing Systems, used contractors license number CC CO 15442 to obtain permit number 3780-81 from St. Johns County, Florida.
Said permit, number 3780-81, was obtained to reroof the residence of Fred Jensen of St. Johns County, Florida.
On or about May 7, 1984, said James Crosby, d/b/a U.S. Seamless Roofing Systems, contracted with Ceal Butler to repair Butler's roof on his residence at Rt. 3, Box 56W3, St. Augustine, Florida, for the contract price of
$1,335.
Said contract referenced in number 20 above, was executed on a printed form bearing contractors license number CC CO 15442.
At no time relevant hereto did Respondent qualify the roofing business, American Roof and Waterproofing Company and/or American Roofing and Waterproofing Company.
Facts found based upon testimony at final hearing and
exhibits admitted at final hearing
James Crosby is also known as James A. Crosby, Jr., and Jim Crosby.
On May 17, 1982, James A. Crosby, Jr., who held registered roofing contracting license number RC 0029375, voluntarily relinquished that license in Department of Professional Regulation, Construction Industry Licensing Board v. James A. Crosby, Jr., DPR Case No. 006237. On June 30, 1987, the Construction Industry Licensing Board, in accordance with that voluntary relinquishment, entered a final order approving and accepting the relinquishment. See Petitioner's composite Exhibit 3.
James Crosby, in those instances described in the fact finding related to roofing contracting activities, was unlicensed and therefore not authorized to practice contracting, to include roofing contracting. See Petitioner's Exhibit 4 admitted into evidence, a February 7, 1986, notice to cease and desist in the case of State of Florida, Department of Professional Regulation vs. James Crosby, DPR Case No. 62490, in which it is indicated that James Crosby does not hold the necessary license to do roofing work or other forms of contracting contemplated by Chapter 489, Florida Statutes.
Petitioner's Exhibit 5 is a copy of the general authorization which Respondent directed "To Whom It May Concern" in August 1982 authorizing James Crosby ". . . to pull permits for all roof work done by U.S. Seamless Roof
Systems, St. Augustine, Florida." A copy of Respondent's certified roofing contractors license was attached to this authorization. This authorization has never been withdrawn and still remains on file with the City of St. Augustine, Florida, Building Department.
At all relevant times related to the second amended administrative complaint, the City of St. Augustine, Florida, by ordinance, had adopted the Southern Building Code, which required building permits to be issued by the City before James Crosby or the companies under whose name he was doing business could undertake the various projects that are contemplated by the second amended administrative complaint.
In January 1983, James Crosby entered into a contract with Wallace Mussallem for the roof repair in a tourist attraction in downtown St. Augustine, Florida, known as Zorayda Castle. Price of the repairs was approximately $6500. Petitioner's composite Exhibit 6 admitted into evidence pertains to various building permit applications and for certificate of appropriateness which James Crosby filed related to the Mussallem job. Crosby was operating under the name
U.S. Seamless Roofing Co. as depicted in the aforementioned composite exhibit. Crosby completed the job and was paid the full amount of the contract. Crosby warranted his repair work for a period of ten years. During the initial two years, the roof did not leak; however, in 1986 a number of leaks occurred in the roof. Mussallem was unable to locate James Crosby to fix the roof and Mussallem had another roofer effect repairs and spent $3000 to have one section of the roof repaired. As of the time of the hearing, when Mussallem gave his testimony, part of the roof was still leaking and needed to be fixed.
Respondent was never involved in the transaction between Mussallem and James Crosby, beyond giving permission to James Crosby to pull building permits from the City of St. Augustine, Florida.
On March 4, 1984, Mr. and Mrs. William Blanchard entered into a contract with James Crosby, d/b/a American Roof and Waterproofing Company. James Crosby's associate, Basil R. Boone, was the person who estimated the job; however, the contract was with James Crosby. A copy of that contract can be found as Petitioner's Exhibit 14 admitted into evidence. It calls for the repair of the roof on the Blanchards' residence in St. Augustine, Florida. On April 5, 1985, James Crosby applied for a building permit from the City of St. Augustine to do the roofing work at the Blanchard home, and on April 30, 1985, that building permit was issued. Petitioner's composite Exhibit 8 is a copy of
the application for permit and the permit. The price of the contract was $1575. James Crosby was paid for the roofing work. In the course of this transaction, William Blanchard had no occasion to deal with the Respondent.
On May 7, 1984, James Crosby, d/b/a U.S. Seamless Roof Systems contracted with Ceal Butler of St. Johns County, Florida, to do roof repair work on a mobile home belonging to Mr. Butler. See Petitioner's Exhibit 15 admitted into evidence. The contract price was $1335 and Crosby guaranteed the work for ten years. May l8, 1984, James Crosby, as referred to in the check written to the Butlers as "Jim Crosby," was paid the contract amount. The contract form that was utilized in the Butler case referred to the Florida certified contracting number which pertains to the Respondent. Notwithstanding this reference, Respondent did not involve himself with this project. The Butlers immediately began to experience problems with the roofing work done by James Crosby. There were leaks in the roof repair work. The Butlers made numerous requests to have James Crosby honor the warranty, but the repairs were not made. Eventually, another roofer other than James Crosby had to make the repairs on the roof.
Lillian Perpall owned a home in St. Augustine, Florida, and contracted with James Crosby to do roofing repair work at her residence. A copy of the contract may be found as Petitioner's Exhibit 17 admitted into evidence. James Crosby was doing business in this instance as U.S. Seamless Roof Systems. The contract price was $4875 and the project carried a ten-year guarantee. On February 24, 1983, in furtherance of the conduct of the project, James Crosby applied for a building permit which was granted that same day. A copy of the application and building permit may be found as Petitioner's composite Exhibit
James Crosby was paid the full amount of the contract price for concluding the roofing repair work. Within a year after the work had been done, there was a leak in the roof and James Crosby came and put another coat of material on the roof in response to the complaint of Ms. Perpall. In the last eight or ten months, the back porch area where roof repairs had been made began to leak. Ms. Perpall has tried to contact James Crosby about that problem and has been unable to. In particular, she tried to make contact at the telephone number listed on the contract document that was signed. On the evidence presented, it is found that the Respondent did not participate in the roofing repair work at the Perpall residence,
On October 14, 1982, James Crosby, d/b/a U.S. Seamless Roof Systems contracted with Edward Carriere to perform room repair work on Carriere's residence in St. Augustine, Florida. The contract amount was $5100 and the contract included a ten-year guarantee. A copy of the contract may be found as Petitioner's Exhibit 18 admitted into evidence. This contract format bears Respondent's Florida certified contractor's number. In furtherance of this work, James Crosby applied for a building permit from the City of St. Augustine on September 28, 1982, and that permit was issued that same day. A copy of the application and permit may be found as Petitioner's composite Exhibit 11 admitted into evidence. A second building permit related to this work was issued on October 27, 1982, from the City of St. Augustine as acknowledged by James Crosby and is found as part of the Petitioner's composite Exhibit 11.
From the beginning, following the work, Carriere has experienced problems with the repair work. These problems are leaks in the roof. They have caused damage in the kitchen and living room area of the Carriere home. James Crosby responded to complaints about the room leaking, but did not fix the problem.
The roof leaked from 1983 to 1985. By 1985, Carriere was unable to locate James Crosby to fix the leaking roof. Being unsuccessful in locating James Crosby, Carriere hired another roofer to fix the problem in January 1986. This cost an additional amount of approximately $5800. Carriere never dealt with the Respondent in the roof repair project at his home.
On May 2, 1983, Lawrence G. Golden contracted with a representative of
U.S. Seamless Roof Systems, the company of James Crosby, to have roof repair work done at the Golden residence in St. Augustine, Florida. A copy of the contract entered into with the company be found as Petitioner's Exhibit 19 admitted into evidence. The contract amount was $985 and the work carried a ten-year guarantee. Lawrence Golden paid the man $985 called for by the contract. Mr. Golden had problems with the roof repair work with the advent of heavy rains, in that the roof leaked. After numerous attempts to contact the company, James Crosby came to examine the nature of the complaint. James Crosby did not fix the problems with the leaking roof or cause them to be fixed until Golden had made a complaint to the State of Florida, Department of Professional Regulation. James Crosby did not obtain a building permit for the roof repair work, nor was a building permit obtained by anyone other than James Crosby. Golden did not deal with the Respondent in the transaction involving the roof repair.
On July 15, 1982, Wilbur Lane contracted with James Crosby d/b/a U.S. Seamless Roof Systems to perform roof repair work on Lane's residence in St. Johns County, Florida. The roof repair contract carried the certified roofing contractor license number associated with the Respondent. The amount of the contract price was $1300 and the work carried a ten-year guarantee. James Crosby completed the construction work and received the full payment. A copy of the contract may be found as Petitioner's Exhibit 20 admitted into evidence. Although James Crosby was paid the amount contemplated by the contract, the roof repair work was not successful. After the project was undertaken, Lane experienced leaks inside of his home and made numerous attempts to try to contact James Crosby to take care of the problem. Crosby did attempt to fix the leaks, but failed in the attempt. Eventually Mr. Lane was unable to contact Crosby to continue the effort at rectifying the problem and Mr. Lane had to complete his own repair work on the roof to stop the leaks. Lane never had occasion to deal with the Respondent in this project.
35, The Department of Professional Regulation investigator Augostino A. Lucente investigated the complaint that had been filed by Lawrence Golden and spoke with the Respondent. Respondent indicated that he did not know anything about Mr. Golden or his problem or the fact that roofing repair work had been undertaken by U.S. Seamless Roof Systems. Respondent did indicate to Lucente that James Crosby was using Respondent's certified roofing contractor's license to obtain building permits. Respondent stated that he was trying to do his brother a favor by setting up a company for him in the St. Augustine area. In actuality, James Crosby may not be the brother of Respondent and may in fact be Respondent's cousin. Respondent told Lucente that he had issued the authorization letter, Petitioner's Exhibit 5, and that he had intended to open up a business in the St. Augustine area and to put James Crosby in charge.
After about six weeks, Respondent said that he determined that he did not want to do anything with the St. Augustine situation and left everything as it was. This decision came about in September 1982. Respondent also denied any knowledge of the Carriere contract.
On October 22, 1986, Petitioner took action against the Respondent in DPR Case Nos. 59109 and 59115 by the entry of a final order disciplining the license which is at issue in this proceeding. A copy of that final order and the underlying administrative complaint may be found as Petitioner's Exhibit 2 admitted into evidence.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the subject matter and the parties to this action in accordance with Section 120.57, Florida Statutes.
Count I to the second amended administrative complaint alleges violation by the Respondent pertaining to Sections 489.129(1)(e), (f), (g), (j) and (m), Florida Statutes, as well as Section 489.119, Florida Statutes. These allegations correspond to a time period set forth in the first count to the second amended administrative complaint and in turn that time period corresponds to the fact finding set forth in the recommended order. In effect, there is a coincidence of the fact finding and the other factual contentions set forth in the first count to the second amended administrative complaint. Based upon an assessment of these matters1 Respondent is found to have violated Sections
489.l29(1)(e), (f), and (m), Florida Statutes. Respondent has also violated Section 489.129(1)(j) by violating Sections 489.119, Florida Statutes. It has not been proven that the Respondent violated Section 489.129(1)(g), Florida Statutes.
39. Count II to the second amended administrative complaint makes certain allegations related to roofing work done for one William Phillips. Count III to the second amended administrative complaint pertains to allegations related to the roofing work for Doris Bunch. No proof it was adduced concerning Counts II and III to the second amended administrative complaint. Therefore, those counts have not been proven.
Based upon a consideration of the facts found and the conclusions of law reached and given the seriousness of the offense and the past disciplinary history related to the Respondent, it is
That David W. Crosby's certified roofing contractor's license number CC CO 15442 be revoked.
DONE AND ENTERED this 29th day of April, 1987, at Tallahassee, Florida.
CHARLES C. ADAMS, Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building
2009 Apalachee Parkway
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550
(904) 488-9675
Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 29th day of April, 1987.
APPENDIX TO RECOMMENDED ORDER, CASE NO. 86-1080
All of the suggested facts offered by the Petitioner have been incorporated in the recommended order in a somewhat different format, with the exception of the portion of paragraph 23, the latter sentence in which reference is made to a Mr. Golden, when in fact the context of the sentence suggests that Petitioner's counsel intended to refer to Mr. Lane. Respondent has not offered proposed facts.
COPIES FURNISHED:
W. Douglas Beason, Esquire Department of Professional
Regulation
130 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0750
Mr. David Crosby Post Office Box 806
Port Richey, Florida 34288-0806
Mr. David W. Crosby 7332 Deerlake Circle
New Port Richey, Florida 33552
Fred Seely, Executive Director Construction Industry Licensing Board Post Office Box 2
Jacksonville, Florida 32201
Van Poole, Secretary Department of Professional
Regulation
130 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0750
Joseph A. Sole, General Counsel Department of Professional
Regulation
130 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0750
| Issue Date | Proceedings |
|---|---|
| Apr. 29, 1987 | Recommended Order (hearing held , 2013). CASE CLOSED. |
| Issue Date | Document | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Aug. 04, 1987 | Agency Final Order | |
| Apr. 29, 1987 | Recommended Order | Respondent had past disciplinary history and improper acts in pulling permits and repairing roofs addressed in this case, recommended revocation. |
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