MARK AND CAROL FAIRALL
The Real Faces of Elder Abuse
May 30, 2015
We are an elderly couple that was abused and defrauded by the bad contractor Robert Freund. Arizona does nothing to stop the contractor fraud, help us get the justice we deserve, and protect us from his criminal activities.
See our correspondence with
Arizona's governor Ducey:
FAIRALL LETTER TO THE ARIZONA
GOVERNOR ABOUT THE BROKEN REGISTRAR OF CONTRACTORS (ROC) AND
BAD CONTRACTOR ROBERT FREUND
05/23/2015
March 23, 2015
The Honorable Doug Ducey
Governor, State of Arizona
1700 W. Washington
Suite 504
Phoenix, AZ 85007-2812
To The Honorable Doug Ducey:
This letter is written to inform
you that the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) is failing to protect the
public with its incompetence, dismal performances, and illegal deceptions. I
wrote former Governor Jan Brewer on July 14, 2014, without any responsive
efforts by her administration to correct the ROC problems. Since then, I have been
denied access to Public Documents on my failed complaints by the ROC for the
past eight months. The ROC is covering up their mistakes with excessive delays
attempting to exceed the Contractor Statute of Limitations Law. The ROC
wrongfully declined my January 17, 2014 complaints against Palmer’s Plumbing
(PP), ROC complaint #2014-250, and Palmer’s Kitchen, Bath, and Beyond (PKBB), ROC
complaint #2014-251.
The
ROC’s decline reason was that I failed to allow the contractor his rights to
correct his poor workmanship but that is totally untrue. Where are our
homeowners’ rights for reimbursement of our bad contractor’s poor workmanship losses?
Where are our homeowners’ rights to protect ourselves and have the law
enforcement stop the illegal attacks from a vengeful and desperate contractor?
I have finally received 142 pages
of incomplete documents and one recorded interview of the bad contractor, Robert
Freund, by the ROC’s Inspector, Stephen Lawton. The documents prove that I gave
the bad contractor every opportunity to fix his construction problems but that the
contractor refused to work under supervision. This is a quote written by me
which is in the ROC documentation dated August 08, 2013 email to the contractor
stating: “You are barred from being in our house without supervision.” The contractor refused to be supervised to repair
his poor workmanship. Instead, the contractor made threats of harming us and
our house, demanded $7,000 cash, and refused to return my house key and alarm
fob. This illegal contractor action
resulted in my filing the Police Report #13-151570 on August 08, 2013. Since
then I have suffered intentional work sabotage, daily stalking, property
damages, and even attempted murder. The Arizona Attorney General has done
nothing on our two formal complaints to protect us and the public from this bad
and dangerous contractor.
The ROC Inspector, Stephen Lawton,
was only employed by the state for one month before my ROC complaints were
filed. My investigation shows that Mr. Lawton was fired from his Youngtown
Building Inspector job because of his poor performance. Our bad contractor’s,
Robert Freund, office is located in Youngtown and the recorded interview shows
they have a tight history together. Mr. Lawton only had one interview with our
bad contractor on February 26, 2014, but he made up his mind to close my ROC
complaints at that time according to his job notes. The ROC’s Stephen Lawton failed
to do any real investigation and delayed by formerly declining me on June 30,
2014.
Mr. Lawton is incompetent because
he:
1.
Wrongfully waived the contractor’s obligation to be at my ROC home
inspection. I agreed to have the contractor at the ROC home inspection with my
February 09, 2014 email stating: “We will abide by state law requirements
but we demand that we are protected with an armed policeman at the time of
inspection.” This was omitted from the ROC records (Attachment A: Fairall’s
02/09/2014 email to ROC’s Stephen Lawton – Abiding by state law).
2.
Failed to obtain written answers from the contractor concerning my 65
points on my ROC complaints.
3.
Failed to discuss with the contractor in the interview about the threats
and personal property thefts by his employee, Derrick King, reported in my
Police Report filed on August 08, 2013. The Police Report #13-151570
documentation was in the ROC documents. The ROC
Inspector, Stephen Lawton, was sent the May 10, 2014 email documenting the
granted May 09, 2014 Injunctions against Harassment issued against Robert
Freund #CC2014-080145000 and Derrick King #CC2014-08018660, but this was not a
part of the ROC documentation (Attachment B: Fairall’s 05/10/2014 email to ROC’s Stephen Lawton
plus copies of Injunctions against Harassment – Freund & King).
4. Failed to follow up on the
information discovered in the interview as to how the contractor could do
plumbing work without a valid contractor’s license (Attachment C: Fairall’s
02/15/2015 Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint #10450121 about Palmer’s
Plumbing dba Benjamin Franklin Plumbing – No Response BBB letter – Grade C+).
5.
Failed to follow up on the information discovered in the interview as to
why no Mold Remediation Certificate was obtained and why the contractor hired
an unlicensed and untrained subcontractor, Carpet Glo, to remove the mold from
my home (Attachment D: Fairall’s 03/22/2015 BBB complaint #10543349 about
Carpet Glow).
6. Failed to follow up on the information
discovered in the interview as to why the contractor used the unlicensed
cabinet maker, Leroy’s Custom Cabinets.
7. Failed to timely complete the
investigation by waiting an additional four months from his original decision
to decline my complaint when he issued a formal decline after doing nothing. Stephen
Lawton failed to contact the contractor when the first house inspection was
canceled, had date errors in numerous documents, and did an extremely poor job
properly detailing the ROC investigation.
8.
Failed to produce public
documents on my complaints as promised in August, 2014.
9.
Failed to understand that the contractor contacted our mutually used
Insurance Adjuster, Brown & O’Haver, stating that my home repair was
completed on August 07, 2013. (Attachment E: Fairall’s 03/22/2015 BBB
complaint #10543366 about Brown & O’Haver) .My bad
contractor actually admitted in the ROC interview that the job was not done on
August 8, 2013. This action caused State Farm insurance to the stop paying my
hotel bill resulting in my paying an extra $1,152.99 for the eight days needed
to get my home habitable, which is part of the ROC documentation. This all was
documented by the State Farm Insurance Letter dated October 31, 2013 (Attachment
F: 10/31/2013 State Farm Letter – Why insurance coverage ended for my hotel
stay on 08/06/2013).
I
documented most of all of the poor workmanship with time/dated pictures. Time
was of the essence since I was paying $144 per day for the hotel expenses. I was forced to use a new contractor because
my bad contractor refused to work under supervision to make my house habitable.
10. Due to the Youngtown connection
between my contractor, Robert Freund, and my ROC Inspector, I suspect the ROC
Inspector was bribed to not do a proper investigation in accordance with the ROC
policies. I was told by ROC’s Stephen Lawton about his relationship with Robert
Freund, which was overheard by my hired guard, Jacob Mueller, retired policeman
and private investigator, at my ROC home inspection and which was not attended
by my contractor. Stephen Lawton should
have his ROC job terminated for incompetence and suspected graft.
The ROC Chief of Staff, Tyler
Palmer, was rude and condescending while refusing to listen as to why the ROC
declines were invalid. ROC’s Tyler Palmer failed to produce the requested
Public Documents until the Ombudsman became involved on October 19, 2014. I just
received the public documents on March 20, 2015, which was eight months after I
verbally requested them many times and submitted two formal requests.
The 2013 audit of the ROC by the
Arizona Audit General, Debbie Davenport, shows the dismal job done by Tyler
Palmer with 20% of the records duplicated or missing plus 40,000 ROC records which
had inaccurate information. The ROC agreed and accepted her findings that the
ROC was failing to protect Arizona homeowners. The ROC failed to timely update
its website which would have shown that my contractor’s licenses were either
Inactive or Suspended at the time I hired him in May, 2013. The ROC set me up to fail by: not updating
its website, failing to properly investigate my complaints, and withholding public
information. William Mundell, ROC Director, has been replaced. Tyler Palmer should have his ROC job
terminated for incompetence and misconduct.
SUMMATION:
I Demand my ROC complaints opened and the
payment of the maximum $30,000 Recovery Fund due to the house damages and loss
of value caused by unlicensed contractors.
I Demand the amount allowed by
law for state corruption and lies which doubles the value of my losses, which
would be a total of $60.000. If these terms are not met, legal action may
be taken. I Demand that the ROC revoke Robert Freund’s contractor licenses
because he has committed thirteen violations of ARS-1154 Grounds for Revocation
of License (Attachment G: ARS 32-1154 &
13 Noted Grounds for Revocation of Contractor’s License). I Demand that
Robert Freund and Derrick King be incarcerated for their criminal activities.
The contractor’s 420-day old
baseless lawsuit for $3,800 is going to a jury trial on May 01, 2015. I have
already paid the contractor $13,700.14 for substandard work which was completed
by unlicensed subcontractors that do not meet building and safety codes. I
understand the national press will be at the trial because it is news as to how
the Arizona Agencies and Departments fails to protect the citizens of the
state.
Governor
Ducey: I believe you will properly resolve this travesty of justice and take
the proper steps to get the Justice I deserve. I believe you will better
protect Arizonans from this egregious example of Elder Abuse and Fraud.
Sincerely,
Mark and Carol Fairall
13202 W. Bonanza Dr.
Sun City West, AZ 85375
(623) 910-9232
Attachments:
A. Fairall’s 02/09/2014 email to
ROC’s Lawton – Abiding by state law
B. Fairall’s 05/10/2014 email to
ROC’s Lawton – Injunctions against Harassment – Freund & King
C. Fairall’s 02/15/2015 BBB
Complaint #10450121 against Palmer’s Plumbing dba Benjamin Franklin
Plumbing
No response BBB Letter – Grade C+
D. Fairall’s 03/22/2015 BBB
Complaint #10543349 against Carpet Glo
E. Fairall’s 03/22/2015 BBB
Complaint #10543366 against Brown & O’Haver Public Adjusters
F. State Farm’s 10/31/2013 letter –
Why Insurance coverage ended for my hotel stay on 08/06/2013
G. ARS 32-1154 – 13 Noted Grounds
for Revocation of Contractor’s License
cc: Michelle
Reagan – Arizona Secretary of State
Jeff Fleetham – ROC Director
Rick Gray – Arizona Lawmaker
Phil Lovas – Arizona Lawmaker
David Livingston – Arizona Lawmaker
Victoria Steele – Arizona Lawmaker
Peter Eisler – USA TODAY Reporter
Peter Eisler – USA TODAY Reporter
EMERGENCY EMAIL TO GOVERNOR DUCEY
FOR ACTION TODAY - 05/28/2015
I urged to reopen ROC complaints #2014-250 against Palmers
Plumbing and #2014-251 against Palmers Kitchen Bath & Beyond. The two year
Statute of limitations ends today 05/28/2015 for ROC complaint #2014-250 –
Fairall v. Palmers Plumbing Services.
This is supported by the fact that the bad contractor, Robert
Freund, failed to show up at the Pretrial on his lawsuit he filed on
05/27/2015. The judge was angry about the 17 months of delays and the rude
no-show. Judge Williams threw the lawsuit out as a Default and awarded me my
lawsuit costs. See attached Injunctions approved. This judgment award to pay us
our lawsuit costs decision by the judge will make news because of our hard
efforts to defend ourselves from a frivolous lawsuit while the contractor
played the court and legal system. Our lawsuit award will be between $1,800 and
$15,000.
This is supported by Robert Freund's internet gloating to the
BBB and Ripoff.com where he lies by stating:
1. That he finished on
time on the project.
2. That he and his
Qualified party inspected the job.
3. That my dispute was
only to avoid paying money owed him
4. No damages to the
Fairall house existed.
5. The ROC complaint was
closed because it was invalid.
6. No threats and
property damages were done.
7. That he only operated
one month without a Qualified Party.
8. That Fairall's
complaints are "pure fantasy."
9. That he excels in
customer service.
10. That he has heard nothing about the Fairall complaint from
the AG, ROC, and Governor Office since
2014.
See the Robert Freund's false answers that he filed with the BBB
and RIPOFF.COM. See the FTC complaint filed for Freund's false advertising. See
the BBB No Rating and Alert given to Palmers Plumbing. See our answer to the
Ripoff.com Facebook and call to action to call the Governor.
I urged the ROC to reopen complaints #2014-250 and #2014-251
because they were closed for the wrong reasons because we did give Robert
Freund the opportunity to repair the poor workmanship but it was refused and
answered with criminal activities requiring police reports. This is documented
in the ROC's file of my 08/07/2013 emails with Freund. I did call on 08/08/2013
and asked the ROC to do an emergency inspection because we were stuck in a
hotel after the contractor had our insurance company stop paying for it and the
contractor refused to fix the problems. I was told by the ROC to document with
time/dated pictures with a third party the poor workmanship and to make the
house livable. The reason was because the ROC could not do an inspection for
three months. We have complied with the law and instructions but the ROC wrongfully
dismissed our complaints without a real investigation while waiving normal ROC
procedures (contractor to attend the house inspection and require the
contractor to provide a written response) by the one month on the ROC job
inspector, Stephen Lawton.
Please immediately stop this bad contractor from his: false
advertising, threatening seniors, misusing the legal system, and scamming the
elderly with bad workmanship. Please contact Robert Freund and stop his lies on
the internet and his gloating that he has scammed everyone including the
state.
EMAIL FROM THE ARIZONA GOVERNOR
05/28/2015
