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SAWHORSE
Contractor said he faked permits, created imaginary building inspector
Francis Passavanti, 37, accused of doing construction work without license
December 10, 2013|By Brett Clarkson, Sun Sentinel
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-12-10/news/fl-greenacres-fraudulent-permits-20131210_1_building-inspector-homeowner-permits-and-inspections
Unlicensed contractor Francis Passavanti built a screen room for a Greenacres resident, but didn't stop there.
The Palm Beach Gardens man also constructed an ill-fated ploy based on phony documents and non-existent people to make the project appear legal, he told the Sun Sentinel Tuesday.
"I didn't even turn anything in to the city, I just filled out the inspection myself," said Passavanti, 37, referring to the detailed form he tried to pass off as a legitimate city building inspection.
"I hadn't been working and I needed the money," Passavanti said. "I needed to feed my family."
Passavanti, arrested Monday and released from custody Tuesday, built an outdoor screened-in room for a Greenacres man who lives in the 1400 block of 14th Lane, according to a Greenacres Department of Public Safety arrest report.
When the homeowner, who gave Passavanti an initial payment of $2,000, said he wouldn't pay the rest of the balance until Passavanti produced permits and inspections, Passavanti realized he had a problem: no permit application had been filed.
So he took matters into his own hands. He said he concocted a fake inspection report and made up a non-existent building inspector named Bill Schafer to sign off on the documents.
"Nothing went through the City of Greenacres," Passavanti said.
Passavanti said his understanding was that the project would be an "off-the-books-type job," a "friend-helping-a-friend" situation. He said the remaining balance that he wasn't paid was about $2,800.
"You can go look at it, the thing is beautiful," Passavanti said of the screen room.
But Greenacres Director of Building Michael Grimm said the homeowner became concerned because the work appeared substandard.
According to the arrest report, the man had told Passavanti his Home Owners Association required permits for the job, and that he'd pay the remaining cost of the project upon seeing the inspection reports.
Passavanti emailed the man documents in a bid to satisfy the homeowner's requirement, but the man wasn't convinced of their authenticity.
On Oct. 29, the homeowner went to the Greenacres building department, where Grimm told him there'd been no permit applications filed and no inspections recorded.
The man also had text messages from Passavanti that detailed "meetings with inspectors, inspection results and cost(s) for official records, all of which were false," the arrest report stated.
"I've never seen somebody actually go to that length," Grimm said. "We need to stop illegal contractors to protect the public."
Francis Passavanti, 37, accused of doing construction work without license
December 10, 2013|By Brett Clarkson, Sun Sentinel
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-12-10/news/fl-greenacres-fraudulent-permits-20131210_1_building-inspector-homeowner-permits-and-inspections
Unlicensed contractor Francis Passavanti built a screen room for a Greenacres resident, but didn't stop there.
The Palm Beach Gardens man also constructed an ill-fated ploy based on phony documents and non-existent people to make the project appear legal, he told the Sun Sentinel Tuesday.
"I didn't even turn anything in to the city, I just filled out the inspection myself," said Passavanti, 37, referring to the detailed form he tried to pass off as a legitimate city building inspection.
"I hadn't been working and I needed the money," Passavanti said. "I needed to feed my family."
Passavanti, arrested Monday and released from custody Tuesday, built an outdoor screened-in room for a Greenacres man who lives in the 1400 block of 14th Lane, according to a Greenacres Department of Public Safety arrest report.
When the homeowner, who gave Passavanti an initial payment of $2,000, said he wouldn't pay the rest of the balance until Passavanti produced permits and inspections, Passavanti realized he had a problem: no permit application had been filed.
So he took matters into his own hands. He said he concocted a fake inspection report and made up a non-existent building inspector named Bill Schafer to sign off on the documents.
"Nothing went through the City of Greenacres," Passavanti said.
Passavanti said his understanding was that the project would be an "off-the-books-type job," a "friend-helping-a-friend" situation. He said the remaining balance that he wasn't paid was about $2,800.
"You can go look at it, the thing is beautiful," Passavanti said of the screen room.
But Greenacres Director of Building Michael Grimm said the homeowner became concerned because the work appeared substandard.
According to the arrest report, the man had told Passavanti his Home Owners Association required permits for the job, and that he'd pay the remaining cost of the project upon seeing the inspection reports.
Passavanti emailed the man documents in a bid to satisfy the homeowner's requirement, but the man wasn't convinced of their authenticity.
On Oct. 29, the homeowner went to the Greenacres building department, where Grimm told him there'd been no permit applications filed and no inspections recorded.
The man also had text messages from Passavanti that detailed "meetings with inspectors, inspection results and cost(s) for official records, all of which were false," the arrest report stated.
"I've never seen somebody actually go to that length," Grimm said. "We need to stop illegal contractors to protect the public."
