Petitioner: DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION, CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY LICENSING BOARD
Respondent: JOHN MICHAEL PULLARA
Judges: MARY CLARK
Agency: Department of Business and Professional Regulation
Locations: Tampa, Florida
Filed: Sep. 08, 2000
Status: Closed
Settled and/or Dismissed prior to entry of RO/FO on Friday, September 29, 2000.
Latest Update: Dec. 26, 2024
STATE OF FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY LICENSING BOARD
DIVISION I
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND
PROFESSIONAL REGULATION,
Petitioner,
vs. Case No. 98-22134
JOHN MICHAEL PULLARA,
Respondent.
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ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINT
Petitioner, DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION,
("Petitioner"), files this Administrative Complaint before the Construction Industry Licensing Board,
against JOHN MICHAEL PULLARA, ("Respondent"), and says:
1. Petitioner is the state agency charged with regulating the practice of contracting
pursuant to Section 20.165, Florida Statutes, and Chapters 455 and 489, Florida Statutes.
2. Respondent is, and has been at all times material hereto, a Certified General
Contractor, in the State of Florida, having been issued license number CG C047548.
3. Respondent's last known address is 9045 Hickory Circle, Tampa, Florida, 33615.
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‘4 At all times material hereto, Respondent was the licensed qualifier for Vy-Tec
Construction.
5. Section 489.1195(1)(a), Florida Statutes, provides that all primary qualifying agents
for a business organization are jointly and equally responsible for supervision of all operations of
the business organization; for all field work at all sites; and for financial matters, both for the
organization in general and for each specific job.
6. Respondent failed to obtain a certificate of authority for Vy-Tec Construction as
required by Section 489.119(2), Florida Statutes.
7. On or about September 16, 1996, Respondent, d/b/a Pullara Construction Company,
entered into a contract with Peter and Elizabeth Lupia ("the Lupias") to improve and renovate a
house located at 1210 South Druid Lane, Tampa, Florida 33629.
8. The contract price was one hundred twenty thousand dollars ($120,000.00).
9. On or about December 31, 1996, the Lupia’s entered into a second contract with
Respondent, d/b/a Pullara Construction Company reducing the contract price to sixty-eight thousand
eight hundred seventy-nine dollars ($68,879.00).
10. Neither of the contracts between Respondent, d/b/a Pullara Construction Company,
and the Lupias contained a notice explaining the consumer's rights under the Construction Industry
Recovery Fund as required by Section 489.1425(1), Florida Statutes.
11. Pullara Construction, Inc. accepted eighty-eight thousand two hundred dollars and
sixty-four cents ($88,200.64) from the Lupias as payment on the contract.
12. At no time material hereto, was Respondent the licensed qualifier for Pullara
Construction Company.
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13. On or about March 29, 1999, Respondent plead guilty to one count of organized
fraud, under $20,000.00, in violation of Section 817.034(4)(a)(3), Florida Statutes, a felony of the
third degree. The charges were filed in case number 98-15647 in the Circuit Court of the Thirteenth
Judicial Circuit, Hillsborough County, Florida.
14. The charge relates to the practice of contracting in that Respondent submitted altered
invoices and false invoices to the Lupias in order for him to receive moré money than was actually
owed,
15, Respondent received a sentence of twenty-four (24) months probation. Respondent
also was required to pay two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) in restitution to the Lupias
and one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) in court costs.
COUNT I
16. Petitioner realleges and incorporates the allegations set forth in paragraphs one
through fifteen as though fully set forth herein.
17. Based upon the foregoing, Respondent violated Section 489.129(1)(b), Florida
Statutes, by being convicted or found guilty of, or entering a plea of nolo contendere to, regardless
of adjudication, a crime in any jurisdiction which directly relates to the practice of contracting or the
ability to practice contracting.
COUNT II
18. Petitioner realleges and incorporates the allegations set forth in paragraphs one
through fifteen as though fully set forth herein.
19. Section 489.119 (2), Florida Statutes, provides that an applicant who proposes to
engage in contracting as a business organization, including any partnership, corporation, business
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trust, or other legal entity, or in any name other than the applicant's legal name or a fictitious name
where the applicant is doing business as a sole proprietorship, the business organization must apply
for a certificate of authority through a qualifying agent and under the fictitious name, if any.
20. Based on the foregoing, Respondent violated Section 489.129(1)(), Florida Statutes,
by failing in any material respect to comply with the provisions of this part or violating a rule or
lawful order of the board, including, as here, Section 489.119(2), Florida Statutes by failing or
refusing to obtain a certificate of authority for Vy-Tec Construction.
COUNT HI
21. Petitioner realleges and incorporates the allegations set forth in paragraphs one
through fifteen as though fully set forth in this Count IIL.
22. Section 489.1425(1), Florida Statutes, provides that any agreement or contract for
repair, restoration, improvement, or construction to residential real property must contain a written
statement explaining the consumer's rights under the Construction Industries Recovery Fund, except
where the value of all material does not exceed $2,500.
23, Based on the foregoing, Respondent violated Section 489.129(1)G), Florida Statutes,
by failing in any material respect to comply with the provisions of this part or violating a rule or
lawful order of the board, including, as here, Section 489.1425(1), Florida Statutes, which states that
any agreement or contract for repair, restoration, improvement, or construction to residential real
property must contain a written statement explaining the consumer's rights under the Construction
Industries Recovery Fund, except where the value of all labor and materials does not exceed
$2,500.00.
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COUNT IV
24. Petitioner realleges and incorporates the allegations set forth in paragraphs one
through fifteen as though fully set forth in this Count IV.
25. Based on the foregoing, Respondent violated Section 489.129(1)(g), Florida Statutes,
by acting in the capacity of a contractor under any certificate or registration issued hereunder except
in the name of the certificateholder or registrant as set forth on the issued certificate or registration,
or in accordance with the personnel of the certificateholder or registrant as set forth in the application
for the certificate or registration, or as later changed as provided in this part.
WHEREFORE, Petitioner respectfully requests the Construction Industry Licensing Board
enter an Order imposing one or more of the following penalties: place on probation, reprimand the
licensee, revoke, suspend, deny the issuance or renewal of the certificate or registration, require
financial restitution to a consumer, impose an administrative fine not to exceed $5,000 per violation,
require continuing education, assess costs associated with investigation and prosecution, impose any
or all penalties delineated within Section 455.227(2), Florida Statutes, and/or any other relief that
the Board is authorized to impose pursuant to Chapters 489, 455, Florida Statutes, and/or the rules
promulgated thereunder.
Signed this 7% day of At 4nu ory , 2000.
Department of Business and Professional Regulation Loa a 2 ob
DEPUTY CLERK £ O'Jond
By: Cathleen E. O’Dowd
cree rardmnt Michele Lead Construction Attorney
pare_9 — A- 2OOO (Pep): February 93, S000
Dwision x: Chene Simmons i
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COUNSEL FOR DEPARTMENT:
Robert A. Crabill
Assistant General Counsel
Florida Bar No. 0134473
Department of Business and
Professional Regulation
1940 North Monroe Street
Northwood Centre
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2202
RAC/smc
Case #98-22134
Docket for Case No: 00-003775PL
Issue Date |
Proceedings |
Sep. 29, 2000 |
Order Closing File issued. CASE CLOSED.
|
Sep. 28, 2000 |
Motion to Relinquish Jurisdiction without Prejudice (filed by Petitioner via facsimile).
|
Sep. 25, 2000 |
Amended Unilateral Response to Initial Order (filed via facsimile).
|
Sep. 21, 2000 |
Unilateral Response to Initial Order (filed via facsimile).
|
Sep. 20, 2000 |
Order of Pre-hearing Instructions issued.
|
Sep. 20, 2000 |
Notice of Hearing issued (hearing set for October 20, 2000; 9:00 a.m.; Tampa, FL).
|
Sep. 08, 2000 |
Election of Right filed.
|
Sep. 08, 2000 |
Administrative Complaint filed.
|
Sep. 08, 2000 |
Initial Order issued. |
Sep. 08, 2000 |
Agency referral filed.
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