Arizona Needs An Inspector General to Fight Corruption

ARIZONA NEEDS AN 

INSPECTOR GENERAL

Mark and Carol Fairall - March 20, 2015

If you have a problem with a state department or agency the only recourse you have is to complain to the Arizona Ombudsman. The Arizona Attorney General (AG) refuses to investigate state corruption. We know because we suspect corruption at the Registrar of Contractors (ROC), inspector bribes, but the AG and ROC has done nothing to stop the criminal activities at the ROC.  

The Ombudsman is a lazy toothless dog that should be eliminated because it is expensive to pay people who do nothing to protect Arizonans. Eleven other states have Inspector Generals to help the Governor crackdown on state corruption. The fact that Arizona was rated number #1 in state corruption by a recent Harvard Study cries out the fact that Arizona needs an Inspector General.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2015/03/19/duceys-inspector-general-bill-advances/25004009/?fb_action_ids=834654979904067&fb_action_types=og.comments

CONTRACTOR FRAUD IN ARIZONA

In May 2013, I had an under slab water leak and hired Robert Freund, Palmer’s Kitchen, Bath, & Beyond (PKBB) and Palmer’s Plumbing (PP), but at that time he did not have a valid contractor’s license. The Registrar of Contractors was slow in updating its website to reflect the contractor license problems. PKBB had no Qualified Party and should not have bid the job and PP had lost its license in 12/12 since the Qualified Party had quit. Robert Freund hired Carpet Glo, a floor cleaning company, which has no contractor’s license to remove mold. According to Mr. Mather, the subcontractor, he was not fully paid and that Robert Freund, general contractor, failed to pay him $3,000 on the $6,000+ job.   These unlicensed contractors have caused damages to my home in excess of the Registrar of Contractors’ (ROC) Recovery Fund limit amount of $30,000. Robert Freund lost the rights to use the Ben Franklin Plumbing franchise in 09/2014 to Michael Charles Brewer.

I filed the ROC Complaints against PKBB #2014-251 and PP #2014-250 on 1/17/2014. On 02/26/2014 the ROC Inspector Stephen Lawton waived the required attendance of Robert Freund at the ROC inspection of the house damages in my complaints.  I had hired a retired policeman and private eye, Jacob Mueller, to be present at the inspection because I had been threatened by an employee of PKBB, Derrick King. Mr. Lawton had a private meeting with the bad contractor, Robert Freund, and closed my complaint in secrecy on the same day. ROC’s Stephen Lawton said my damages were the worst the ROC had seen but when then I received the ROC’s wrongful decline dated 06/30/2014.

I suspect Contractor Bribery because Stephen Lawton told me he was friends with our bad contractor, Robert Freund, and that they both worked in Youngtown. This was overheard by my private eye when Robert Freund failed to show up at the ROC house inspection.  ROC’s Stephen Lawton failed to follow inspection procedures, tried to blame the contractor’s no-show problem on me, closed my ROC complaints in Robert Freund’s Youngtown office on 02/26/2014, and then staled for another four months before issuing the formal declines. Stephen Lawton was the Building Inspector in Youngtown for a year and five months and was terminated because of poor work, according to a Youngtown City Council member.

The ROC is covering up its website update slowness problem and has dragged on the investigation and the production of public documents on my failed complaint investigation for over a year when it was closed in one month. The ROC had an Audit by Arizona’s Auditor General at the time on our problems with our contractor in 2013. The audit of the ROC found that 20% of the ROC records were missing or duplicated plus 40,000 ROC records had inaccurate information.  I have written Governor Brewer on 07/14/2014 about this problem. I have written the Arizona Ombudsman on 10/19/2014 about this problem. I have written the Arizona Attorney General (AG) on 02/10/2014 and 01/25/2015 but nothing is done. This is intentional fraud by the ROC and according to state law I am entitled to twice the damages, which is $60,000.

Meanwhile my family and I are under attack by the bad contractor which has resulted in three police reports for threatening phone calls on 08/08/2013 and suspected property damages (cut electrical wiring and slashed tires) on 02/21/2014 and 04/09/2014. Now I have had my citrus trees poisoned in November 2014. On 05/09/2014 Judge Gerald Williams approved Injunctions against Harassments to protect us from Robert Freund and Derrick King. Judge Williams stated that it “went to pattern” concerning my property damages because of Derrick King’s bad temper and criminal record. My family and I are currently being stalked by Robert Freund and Derrick King every day when they ride by my home staring while making obscene gestures. It is terrible to live in so much fear of our lives that I had to install a video monitoring system and hire extra police protection.

Presently, I have a jury trial against me for the nonpayment of the contractor’s $3,800 unearned monies scheduled in the North Valley Justice Court on May, 01, 2015. I already paid him nearly $14,000 for poor workmanship that does not pass safety and building codes. My losses exceeds $100,000 due to damages to our health, house damages, and the loss of value to the house.  Robert Freund is using this baseless lawsuit to delay press coverage of his contracting without a valid license and using threats, sabotage, and property damages to harass me. Robert Freund has forged documents of the contract submitted to the court as evidence. The Justice Court has let this baseless lawsuit drag on 420 days by ignoring Court Rules of Procedure Deadlines. I filed a Better Business Bureau (BBB) Complaint on 02/15/2015 but the contractor ignored the complaint, failed to answer the complaint, and the BBB dropped his grade to a C+. I have posted this contractor problem on the internet to warn the public.  Internet Posting:

http://therealfacesofelderabuse.blogspot.com/2015/03/bbb-rates-unlicensed-plumber-that-does.html?spref=pi

The Registrar of Contractors, Ombudsman, and Arizona Attorney General are doing nothing so I have gone to our Lawmakers and the Governor of Arizona for help.