Welcome to Pinellas County Code Enforcement Special Magistrate Hearings. The special magistrate is charged with conducting hearings to determine whether an alleged violation of the county code is occurring. In order to meet that obligation, all parties or their representatives will be allowed an opportunity to be heard on matters relevant to the alleged violation or violations. All witnesses offering testimony or presenting evidence will be required to swear or affirm that the testimony they provide is the truth. The order of presentation will begin with the county presenting their evidence of the alleged violation or violations, and then the respondent shall present his or her case. Both parties shall have an opportunity to cross-examine all witnesses. The special magistrate may question any witness. The clerk will announce the name of the cases from the agenda. When you hear your case called, please respond by coming to the podium with your representative and or any witnesses to be sworn in. When addressing the special magistrate, please speak clearly into the microphone. Any person who decides to appeal the decision of the code enforcement special magistrate, with respect to any matter, consider that this hearing will need a record of the proceedings, and for such purposes may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is based. Such record is not provided by Pinellas County. We'll call the first case. Item 3, rescheduled from August 18, 2025, Department PCCLB, matter, no permit code violation, unlicensed contracting code violation, advertising code violation. Case number, CLB-MG25-00415, CLB-MG25-00416, CLB-MG25-00417, CLB-MG25-00418. Investigator C. Erland, citation number CLB-CT25-00506, CLB-CT25-00507, CLB-CT25-00508, CLB-CT25-00511. Defendant Marzouk Zafir Young, notice address, Marzouk Zafir Young, defendant 2101, Starkey Road, Unit 810, Largo, Florida, 33771, marzouk.young, at gmail.com, and Joanne Gulo, plaintiff's witness, 400 Island Way, Apartment 504, Clearwater Beach, Florida, 33767, joannegulo, at gmail.com, and PCCLB investigator C. Furland, plaintiff's witness, Pinellas County Code Enforcement, 631 Chestnut Street, Clearwater, Florida, 33756, and Yardley Collette, Esquire, Assistant County Attorney for PCCLB, in care of Ekaterina Scagnelli, Legal Secretary, Pinellas County Attorney's Office, 315 Court Street, 6th Floor, Clearwater, Florida, 33756. Violation address, 400 Island Way, Apartment No. 504, Clearwater Beach, Florida, 33767, and via invoice 1110, dated 0321-2022, and via Facebook. Mr. Young here, you step up to the podium. Good morning. Good morning, Counselor. Good morning, Magistrate. Counselor, if you put your name on the record, please. Yes, Yardley Collette for the county, as well as Investigator Furland, Amanda Hawker, and Joanne Gulo. Okay. Mr. Young, if you could state your full name for the record. Marzouk Zafir Young. Are you going to have any other witnesses with you here today? No, sir. If all the witnesses, as well as you, Mr. Young, could raise your right hand, do you swear or affirm that the testimony you'll give today to be the truth and nothing but the truth? Yes, sir. Mr. Young, they're going to put their case on first, okay, and you can either stand to the side or sit down, and then I'll give you opportunities to make objections, and then we'll put your case on. Okay. Thank you, sir. And I'll give you a right to cross-examine any of these witnesses. Good morning, Magistrate. Before I begin with asking Investigator Furland some questions, I wanted to get some of the procedural things out of the way. County will be dismissing, let me make sure I have the correct citation number, CLBCT2500511, the unlicensed advertising via Facebook as a contractor when not so certified. Okay, if you could just slow down a second here. This is citation, which one? The last three numbers, 511, should be the very last one on the agenda. Dismissing that? Correct. Not processing it or dismissing it? Correct. Okay. And county will also be dismissing or not processing the 508 advertising via invoice. Understood. I want to make one more clarification on 506, which is the work without the required permit. County will be moving forward as it pertains to electrical and plumbing, not drywall. Anything else? I do have a little, if you would, if it would please you to give a little bit of some procedural and summary background on this case. There are some procedural differences than what's usually in front of you this morning. Okay, I'll hear from that in a second. Does Mr. Young know you're dismissing those two? I, this was just made, no, I had not informed Mr. Young yet. Mr. Young, if you could step up for a second. The county's dismissing two of the citations. Okay, did you catch which numbers they were? Yes. Okay, and she's also, in the citation that ends in 506, the violation says include electrical plumbing and drywall, and she's removing the drywall accusation. Okay. Do you understand all that? Yes, sir. Okay, you can have a seat then. Yes, please, counselor, make it easy on me. Thank you, magistrate. Okay, so before I begin with investigator Furlan, I wanted to lay out some of the procedural background with this case, which makes it slightly different than cases that are usually in front of you, magistrate. The work that was done at the property in question was actually completed back in 2022. PCCLB received the complaint from the complainant in September of 2024, and investigator Furlan wrote the citations then. In this year, I believe it was in July of 2025. Magistrate, during that time, as you are aware, the law for the PCCLB, the Special Act, changed in 2024 with the passage of Chapter 2024-294, Laws of Florida. From the Special Act, the legislature changed the enforcement abilities of the PCCLB with respect to contractors that are certified under Chapter 489. Specifically, under exemptions, the Special Act does not apply to, quote, any person who is certified under Chapter 489 Florida statutes. This matter is unique in that Mr. Young, during 2022, held a state CBC license. However, some of the work that was completed by Mr. Young was outside of the scope of his CBC license and include... CBC license? Building contractor, certified building contractor. Okay, just for the record, thank you. Yes. So some of the work was outside of the scope of his certified building contractor state license, and some of that work, or included work without the required permit. Counting us before you today as an argument, I wanted to lay all of that out for Magistrate's consideration, and counties will be making the argument that the work that was done outside of the scope of Mr. Young's license may be both unlicensed contracting work and a violation, or violations there under the PCCLB jurisdiction, as well as a violation of his license that would be for the State Department of Business and Professional Regulation to address. 506 and 507, I see that. Okay. I understand what you're doing. Okay. Thank you, Magistrate. And Mr. Young, you'll be able to argue that at some point in time. Okay. So now I'd like to question investigator further. You may proceed, counsel. Good morning, investigator. Good morning. Would you please summarize the facts and circumstances regarding citations that end in 506 and 507, including any supporting documentation? Certainly. Well, I got a call or an email that came in for this case for some work that was within Clearwater jurisdiction that was without a permit and working outside the scope of one's building contracting license, as you so stated. But upon my investigation, I did find those violations occurred, and I have supporting documents for such. The first is going to be the property appraiser to show that this is in Pinellas County, Clearwater, in the Clearwater jurisdiction. Sorry. Oh, so not to interrupt you, but since the dates are important, you said you received a call when? What year? I received a call in, I believe it was November of 24. Okay. That is when the file. Yeah, there's no date in the notes. That's why I was asking. Yeah, it was called in then at the time. Okay, so it's recent. It wasn't from years ago. No. Okay. Thank you. So property appraiser is Exhibit 1. It's three pages to property appraiser. County moves for the printout of the property appraiser's website and is County's Exhibit 1. Mr. Young, do you have an objection to Exhibit 1? Exhibit 1, being no objection is accepted into evidence. You've seen these documents, I presume, sir. I know this is already part of the record. The first citation is the CLBCT 2500506, which is work without the required permit for electrical and plumbing. Supporting documents. This is from the City of Clearwater. I pulled this on 1030 of 24. There's the parcel number, which will match the property appraiser. There was, in fact, an after-the-fact permit pulled for electrical on 1118. This was after all the work was done by the defendant, and this is a separate contractor that they hired to ensure that the work was done properly, and they pulled the proper permits for the work that they were doing at that time. This would show the, so it's the same permit number, 1110489, 1110489, shows the licensed contractor was Chris M. Electric, and it was completed. The permit was, in fact, issued on 1130 of 22. County moves for the printouts of the City of Clearwater, I believe it's their building department, and is County's Exhibit 2. Okay, I'll accept the judicial notice of the two citations. Mr. Young, do you have any objection to Exhibit 2? Being no objection, is it accepting it to evidence? Again, this is already in the record. Citation CLBCT 2500507 would be working outside the scope of the commercial building contractor. The evidence will show this is an invoice by Category 5 construction, and I have highlighted here install outlet behind mounted TV. Install outlet the electric fireplace in the living room. Install the outlet behind it. Wire and install. Client provide pendants and kitchen. Supply and install additional outlet. On the second page, supply and install three-quarter HP disposal unit, and replace P-TRAP under sink. The rest of this is just the rest of their contract. Contract of Category 5 construction. Investigator, what is the date of the contract, or it states invoice at the top of the page? Invoice is date 3-21 of 22. County moves for the copy of the invoice slash contract in his county's Exhibit 3. Mr. Young, do you have any objection to Exhibit 3? There being no objection, Exhibit 3 is accepted into evidence. And Investigator, regarding Exhibit 3, was this contract or invoice signed and dated as well? Yes, it was by both parties. My witness signed it on 3-25 of 22, and Mr. Young signed it on 3-29 of 22. Thank you, Investigator. I did search Pinellas County records in October, or, I'm sorry, in, this is dated this year, 7-15 of 25, where I saw that the license through Pinellas County on 1-2 of 24 was suspended, and it was not reactivated until 11-18 of 22. Was it reactivated? Yes. It was suspended in 24. I'm sorry. You got it backwards, right? Yes, I highlighted the wrong one. Sorry. Take your time, Officer Wolfe. Okay, so he, it was licensed, he was licensed in 22. In all of 22? Because it, they go for a year, so 11-18 of 22. I'm just trying to, I'm not trying to correct you, I'm just want to understand your testimony. So it goes from August of 21 until November, or September 30th of 22, so he didn't renew until 11-18 of 22. It was a month that he was unlicensed. A month? Yeah, roughly. Okay. This is, again, is just part of the, it was suspended in 1-24. It was closed on 1-2 of 23, which, and this was pulled through DBPR on 10-30 of 24, delinquent inactive, or active. So I did call, or send an email to DBPR and ask what that meant, and this is the email. Can I just keep that on the screen for a second? Mm-hmm. It's just the rest of the email. The licensure, non-licensure affidavit stating he registered with us from April 4th of 2018 to June 30th of 2024, as of September 1st of 24, and is still expired as of July 15th of 25. And that was the search dates of September 1st of 24 through July 15th of 25, the last sentence? Correct. The last sentence, yeah. Yes, because he was unlicensed at that time, but licensed at this time. So the county moves for the licensure documentation of Mr. Young and his county's composite exhibit 4. Mr. Young, do you have any objection? There may be no objection. Exhibit 4, I think we're up to accept the acceptance. And then the Sunbiz for Category 5 construction, the registered agent, as well as the officer director, is still Marzip Z. Young. Just for clarification on the Sunbiz document, does it state when the Category 5 construction incorporated was active with Sunbiz or with the state? So it dissolved in September 22nd of 23. The effective dates were from filed up here, effective date, and this is when it changed. It must have changed a mailing address or something at this point, but it does show that it was dissolved for annual report on September 22nd, 23. The county moves for the Sunbiz printout, and is county's Exhibit 5? Mr. Young, any objection? Exhibit 5, the corporate records from Sunbiz. Exhibit 5 being no objection. He's accepted into evidence. That's what I have. This is the complaint. Okay. Investor of Furlan, you had stated that you had received a call back in, you believe, November of 2024. Is that correct, or when did PCCLB actually receive the complaint? Complaint came in. It stated September 12th is the letter that Ms. Gulo had sent, and we received it on September 18th of 2024. Investor? Do you want the whole thing? Are you submitting it? I have nothing further for investigator. Are you marking this, Sil? I'm not. I just wanted to clarify the date that the complaint was received. I'm looking at it now. Has Mr. Young seen this? I'm not. I'm not positive whether or not Mr. Young received that or not. I'm not. Okay. Any other questions? Anything else? Not for investigator. Thank you, Master Chief. Mr. Young, you get to come up to the podium. This is your opportunity, Mr. Young, to ask the officer any cross-examination questions about what she said, and you'll be able to do that with the other witnesses, and then you can put your case on it. Okay, so any questions you want to ask the officer? I do not. Okay. You can have a seat then. Thank you. I do have a statement. She's going to do two other witnesses the same way, I think. Okay. Understood. Thank you, sir. Give you all the time you need. The county calls Amanda Hawker. I'm sorry, how do you spell the last name? H-O-C-K-E-R. Thank you, Ms. Hawker. You can go ahead, counsel. Good morning, Ms. Hawker. Could you please, I know the magistrate already had requested, but could you please state your name for the record? Amanda Hawker. And what is the address of your residence in respect to or with regard to these citations that we're here for this morning? 400 Island Way, apartment 504, Clearwater Beach, Florida, 33767. So I'm going to just ask a pretty general question, but if you could be so kind to give the magistrate a little bit of background of how you became involved from working with or hiring Mr. Young to work at the property, and just generally how you came to know Mr. Young and then the expectations or the work that you believed was going to be completed by Mr. Young. Um, in, let's say it was 2021, our apartment had sustained some water damage from some windows that were improperly installed from the previous owner. Um, after the remediation, uh, there was work that was required to just put everything back together. So we were searching for a contractor at the time, did searches online, found a bunch of people and quoted them out. Um, at the time we met with Marziuk, we thought his name was Mark to us, um, went over the scope of work. Uh, since we had just purchased the property in July of 2020, there were some other additional changes we wanted done to, you know, make it personal, um, as we were planning on moving into it. Um, we went over the scope of work. There were items that were, you know, decided between both parties as far as moving forward. Uh, everything looked fine. Pricing looked good. So at that time, we executed a contract and had a game plan to start moving on the renovations. Um, first thing that was done was basically a full demo of the unit. So at that time, it was uninhabitable. You couldn't stay there. So we had to stay off-site, um, flying back and forth from New York. So a lot of the time and a lot of the work and things were done without us present. We anticipated that Mark was going to keep us up to date on everything. Mark being the president. Yeah, yeah. That's okay. I know it was Mark, so. Um, we were in communication. We would check in every, you know, month. We'd usually, I was coming down a lot during the time to kind of check on things and check on progress. Um, basically over the course of, I would say, six months from March of 2022 through August, there was minimal work. There were a lot of issues. There were a lot of problems. Uh, we continued to communicate with him, try to come up with solutions, come up with resolutions, timelines to get the work done. It just didn't work out. Uh, towards October, we had gotten in touch with a owner represent, like an owner representative to help us sort of mediate between us and him to come to a solution. I mean, you say, what's an owner representative? He, we had gotten his information through a lawyer that we deal with in our business, and, um, he basically was somebody who knows construction. He works in both commercial and residential, and he was to sort of facilitate and speak to the contractor on our behalf to kind of get a, uh, uh, sort of an agreement between both parties to get things back in motion. Okay, good. Because sometimes the owners have difficulties, so. Um, he attempted to reach out to Mark and kind of remediate the situation to which we were basically told he has no money, he's going to go bankrupt, and he essentially abandoned the job. So, as of October 2022, he completely abandoned the job. So, this is what your owner representative told you? We, uh, we were in communication with everybody, and actually. When you say you, you were in communication with everybody, you say you got an owner representative. We had. And now you've been telling me what he said, right? Yes, yep. So, that's what he told you? And we actually also received a text from Mark stating that. That's what, that's what I'm clarifying. Yep, we had also received a text from him claiming that he was going to go bankrupt and that he could not do anything further with the job. Please continue. Thank you. Mm-hmm, thank you. I'm just going to grab a couple of the exhibits. Yeah, sure, go. Thank you for that explanation. I just want to clarify some things on the record. So, this is County's Exhibit 1, which is the property appraiser printout. Um, the address that you stated in the beginning, is this the same address? Yes. And then, as County's Exhibit 3 is the invoice or the contract, um, have you, have you seen this document before? Yes. And I know it was written to Joanne Gulo, but you've seen the document and was aware of the scope of work that was laid out in there. And so, as Investigator Furlan went through the specific electrical and the plumbing that were noted by Investigator Furlan, was that your understanding that that was to be completed by Mr. Young in the Category 5 construction? Yes. And then what is, County's Exhibit 2, which is the printout from Clearwater Building Department, City of Clearwater. Um, Investigator Furlan noted, Investigator Furlan noted the 11-18-2022 permit. Yes. That is a building perm, or building construction permit. Mm-hmm. Um, I see Amanda Hawker. Is that you? Did you pull that? Yes. And you pulled that permit from the City of Clearwater? Uh, yes, with the Electrical Committee. Okay. And so, give me a little bit of explanation or a little bit of background in the magistrate as well as far as, um, what led to you pulling the permit, um, in 2022? And I believe it was with Chris M. Electric, LLC. If you could give just some background. Yeah, that permit was pulled in November, correct? Uh, so after he had abandoned the job in October, we were left with a condo that was unlivable. What we needed to move forward with putting it back together, um, with the assistance of the owner-representative, Bill Isley, um, he brought Chris M. Electric to us. They came on-site. They looked through everything. They saw the work that had been done and basically asked us at that point. They said, was a permit applied for? And we said, no, there was no permit applied for. Um, he expressed that the work that was done on-site did require a permit. So, he said, before we proceed with any repairs or anything, we need to apply for the permit. So, that's why in November, the permit was applied for to... So, you see, you actually made the application as the owner, which you have right to do, and then you hired a contractor? Yes, it was all done through. Got it. Um, if there's anything else that you would like to tell the magistrate about, I have no further questions for you. Okay. That's it. But if you would mind staying up here in case Mr. Young has any questions for you. I'm just going to organize. Mr. Young, once again, if you have, do you have any, uh, questions you want to ask of Ms. Hocker? Uh, not so much. I just want clarification on what exactly this hearing's regarding. It's regarding unlicensed activity, right? Not so much why the contract came to termination. Am I getting into those details, or is this specific to... I'll address that when we're done with these two witnesses here. Okay. I'll tell you. No, I don't have any questions. Sir. You may sit down. Thank you. Ms. Hocker, uh, presume no... Nothing further. Thank you. Stand out. Okay. Good morning, Ms. Gullow. Good morning. Um, could you please state your name for the record? Joanne Gullow. And what is your, um, address? 400 Island Way, apartment 504, Clearwater Beach, Florida, 33767. And I'm going to go a little bit out of order of what I did with Ms. Hocker. That's right. Um, but just since you've just stated your address, is that the same address that's listed on County's Exhibit 1? Yes. Thank you. And similar to how I asked, um, Ms. Hocker, could you please just give, um, an overview of, and I think let's limit it more to, kind of the scope of work that you expected, um, with hiring Mr. Young for the property in question? The overall scope? Yeah. Yes. Okay. When we hired, um, Mark or Mr. Young, um, we hired him to do electrical, plumbing, and overall, uh, construction, drywall, and so on, uh, remodeling a kitchen. There, there was a lot, um, because we had extensive damage from, uh, I guess a hurricane that occurred in October of the previous year. Um, we had water damage in a newly renovated apartment or condo that we purchased in 2020, uh, we had, in both bedrooms, so, so basically they had to rip up everything. Um, we hired him to remodel the kitchen, to do the flooring, to do the electrical, to do the plumbing, um, pretty much to do everything while we were flying back and forth. Um, when we did hire him, when we did hire him, I'm sorry, this is a very stressful situation. Take your time. When we hired him, we had no problem paying the bill when he invoiced us, but we had to chase him the entire time. Um, he did, he did, uh, from what we saw, did some electrical in the kitchen. He did some electrical, actually, in the places that are on the invoice. Uh, he did some plumbing, he did drywall, um, he, he demoed, is basically the majority of what he did from what I saw. Um, but it was, for me, uh, Amanda was spearheading this a lot because it was very stressful for me. Um, she is my significant other, um, but I did have communications with Mark, uh, Mr. Young, on a regular basis to the point where I had to chase him for answers. In fact, it's interrupted. Did he personally do the work ahead of the workers doing it? I'm not sure. Okay. Because when we would fly back and forth from New York, um, for example, he would call us and say, okay, you can come to New York. I did this. And then we would fly to New York to see the- You'd fly to New York? I'm sorry, to fly- You got a fact, okay, got it. We would fly from New York to Florida and see the work that, uh, was done, which was at that point electrical and it was like, uh, I guess rewiring the ceiling, but it was also cabinets, partial cabinets that were hung when he told us the entire kitchen was finished. Okay. Um, anyway, so, uh, we, there was a lot of that, but yeah, we, we saw that there was electrical done. It wasn't completed, but it was done. Um, and, uh, a lot of partial things were done. So, uh, I'm not sure where to go next, to be honest, because this has been a very, very traumatic experience. This is, you know, it took us a long time to get everything situated. Um, I'm not sure where the line is because there's a lot of things that happened during that course of a couple of years. No, I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Thank you. I'm not sure how much more. No, I, I appreciate that info and clarifying as far as you were told things were done and came back and would see work partially done. So would assume that that you made the assumption or the inference that that was within the category five construction with Mr. Young's company. Okay. Um, so as this is counties in exhibit three, which is the invoice that investigator Furlan spoke about. Have you seen this document before? Anytime. And I'm just to confirm, this is your name and address. Okay. And is that also your cell phone number? That's Amanda's. Amanda's cell phone number. As this is page one of seven on page seven, um, is this your signature or electronic signature? And so it was your understanding that the work that was stated in this invoice that was dated March 21st, 2022, that was the work that was to be completed by Mr. Young. Yes. Okay. Similar to my questions with Ms. Hawker, um, counties exhibit two, which is the city of Clearwater's permits right above the highlighted permit. That was for 11, 18, 2022. That was pulled by Ms. Hawker. Um, I also see Golo. Yes. And that was pulled. I apologize. My eyes are not as good as they used to be. Uh, December 12th, 2022. Um, it was an online permit, main unit shutoff valve, repair, replace, change, vanity, water supply line valves, and master bathroom. Um, did you pull that permit or was that for, or did another contractor pull that for the property? I believe that would, that was from the new renovations, the, the, the new contractors that be hired. To complete or to refinish. Yeah. If there's anything else that you would like to say to the magistrate, but I have no further questions for you at this time. No. Mr. Yellen, do you have any questions for Ms. Gollum? No, sir. Um, any other witnesses? You, you could sit down. Okay. Thank you, Ms. Gollum. Nothing further from the county. Counselor, can I? Yes. I have a question for you, Counselor. Um, we're here today on the two citations, 506 ending in 506. You're seeking a $500 fine. Am I getting that right? One moment. Take your time. I have things, uh, slightly out of order. And I don't have the citations with me. No, take your time. I'm trying to be fair here to Mr. Young. He asked the question while we're here, and I just want to make the record clear. Yes. Yes, for 506. Young, you know, and stay with me. You'll definitely do that at your closing, but just to make it clear. Yes. So, 506, you're seeking a $500 fine, right? Yes, that's correct. And then on the one that ends in 507, you're seeking a $2,000 fine. Yes, that is correct, Magistrate. And cost of prosecution, right? Um, I believe that's... You'll be seeking that. Yes, Magistrate. Which is a few hundred dollars, whatever it is, right? And is there anything else you're going to be seeking here today, except those two fines? No, Magistrate. You'll be found guilty on the two fines. On the two fines, correct. Civil matter. Okay. Yes. All right. Thank you, Magistrate. Does that help you at all, Mr. Young? Uh, yes, sir. Okay. Well, uh, that's their case. They may make a summation later, but this is your opportunity to, uh, put on your case. You can, you know, tell me what happened, what your side of it is, you know what I mean, and any other documents are pointed out, but, uh, they're seeking, uh, you know, they want to find you, you know, $2,500 is what they're seeking. Yes, sir. Uh, so what happened at, uh, um, so two things, and, and the details of the case and, and how the contract was terminated is being figured out right now. We're in a legal dispute. With who? With the clients here. Oh, you're in a legal dispute with them? Yes. So, that's, I don't think I need to go into detail here, correct? Unless it has to do with, uh, the, the, the permitting, in other words. Permitting side? The only thing we're doing, I'm doing here just making a decision whether there was work was done without a permit for the interior remodel, okay, back on the dates they've gone meticulously through and working outside the scope of, of the license. That's the only thing I'm doing here. So, um, you know, I will say, and I, I wish I submitted the evidence, um, but I do have text correspondence that they were pretty insistent that I did not pull a permit for the work, um, and I should have known better being the license holder, um, so I'm, I'm really here today just to respectfully request mercy, um, regarding the citations, uh, without proper permit, I acknowledge my mistake, I deeply regret my actions, especially since this is my first offense, I ask for the leniency in the form of a warning, as I have shut down my business two years ago now, uh, faced severe financial hardship, uh, nearly a year of unemployment after the fact, uh, recently secured a job, and I'm a sole provider for my wife, substitute teacher, my three young kids, I'm unable to pay these fines, my business is closed, my license is inactive, in the process of going through bankruptcy, uh, I have no intention of returning to business ownership, uh, due to the stress it's caused me and my family, so, I mean, what happens, happened, I'm sorry? Not to interrupt you, are you in bankruptcy now? I'm going through the motions, yes, sir. When you say going through the motions, uh, we should be filing this week or next. Okay, I just wanted to know if you had filed or not, for the record. Yes, sir. Didn't mean to interrupt you, go ahead. No, that's, I mean, that's, that's really it, sir. This is my, my first offense, and, um, it will certainly be my last, because I, again, my license is inactive status, I do not plan on renewing it, do not plan on going back into business, unfortunately, so, I just ask for mercy, sir. Okay, uh, thank you, uh, I just have one question? Go ahead. This is her cross-examination of your case, so she's going to ask you a question. A question. I say one, but typically I end up leading to, it leads to more. Um, a court, so you're saying that you are not planning on returning to the construction, um, industry of pursuing a licensure with DBPR? Correct. So, I, and I, I do not have this printed out for the magistrate's consideration, I can open my computer and you can read it on the screen, but I do see that, um, on DBPR's license search, and I searched under, under your name, Marzouk Zafir-Young, that there is an application in process for a certified building contractor. Is that accurate, or can you explain that a little bit? I can show you exactly what, and I'll do this, so that way the magistrate. Yeah, what's the date on that application? That's kind of the page I'm looking for here, just in light of this. So, this is just what I pulled from DBPR, DBPR site, so you can see these first two are the delinquent active, which is what, sorry, I'm not speaking into the mic, um, which is what Investigator Furland noted, um, but then there is this application in process, and then as far as a general contractor, um, eligible for exam, so this one where it says application is in process is for a CBC, so a certified building contractor, eligible for exam is certified general contractor, so I was just looking for some clarification. From what I understand, when that pops up, that's, that gives me the opportunity to renew for an expired, or for, for a delinquent, but I have not started the application process, nor do I want to renew it. I just was looking for some clarification. Yeah, I did not. I appreciate it. Yeah. I appreciate it. No further questions. Okay, um, anything else you want, you want to state in light of those questions? No, sir. Councilor, I presume you don't have any additional summation, unless you want to, uh, because I, I kind of have one question for you, just to clear the air. I, I, I will, I'll attempt to answer your question. I just, just a simple question. Um, you're seeking the $2,000 fine, because there was previous fines on the record? Uh, the $2,000 is due to the electrical work that was done. Right, I saw that on there. Okay. Yes, it's due to the electrical. I'm just clarifying it. Yes. Okay, so go ahead. No, um, Magistrate, I would reiterate everything that I stated in, in the beginning, um, of the case where we're looking specifically at the electrical and plumbing that was done outside of the scope, um, just so there's clarification as far as the permits needed on the drywall. Um, it's my, it's the county's interpretation that that would actually be handled by the city of Clearwater's jurisdiction. That's why you removed the electrical? Why we removed the drywall. Drywall. Yes. I'm sorry, the drywall. Um, because if we were moving under the county code, then pursuant to the charter, then it would be, yes, but I just wanted to make sure that was clear in addition to the other, um, just procedural information that I laid out at the beginning. Um, but I have nothing further unless the Magistrate has further questions. Anything else you want to say, Ms. Dale? Okay. I'm going to consider the, um, public portion of the, the hearing to be over. I'm going to find that there's a violation pursuant to, um, CT25-00506. This is the, um, not having the required permit for, which would be electrical and plumbing. That would be a 22-14 subsection 5 violation, oppose a fine of $500. Similarly, with regard to CT25-00507, working outside the scope of one's license. That's a violation of 22-14 subsection 1. I'm going to impose a fine of $2,000, county's awarded costs. Okay. As far as the details, when you pay that, I'm sure the clerk can tell you here, and, uh, you might want to take that to whatever attorney's representing you if you're going to file backwards. So, the cost amount is 342. There you go. It's $32.80. And then in your order, um, when you receive it, it's going to state where you can pay that. You, um, that will be split into the two citations, so you can pay them online. If you do need a payment plan, you can go to the, um, 440 Court Street, first floor, and, um, in the main office of PCCLB. Okay? Can you do that today? Yes. I believe, yes. You can do that today. He's going to get the order in the mail, though, right? Yes. And then, but you can do the payment plan, um, today. Um, today, we'll also, if we have, we have your e-mail address, we'll send you a courtesy e-mail with your order as well. Okay? Thank you, Mr. Young. Good luck. Yes, you're just, you are, sorry. Is that it? Yes. Do we proceed with item two? We have item two. Yeah, right. I was going to say we're going to call the other cases, right? Yes. Yes. Well, item two is not here, but they do have hearings. Hang on. One was, uh, is the Nopras, right? Yes. Okay. And, I'm sorry, number two is what? Um, they are scheduled for hearing. They're just, the defendant is not here. Oh. Okay. Do I read them into the record? Um, you want to do it right, just proceed into it? Yeah. We can. Call the case. Are you ready, Counselor? Yes, ma'am. All right. Anymore? Item two continued from August 11th, 2025. Department PCCLB. Matter no permit code violation, unlicensed contracting code violation. Case number CLB-MG25-00297, CLB-MG25-00298, CLB-MG25-00299, Investigator N. Nichols. Citation number CLB-CT25-00308, CLB-CT25-00309, CLB-CT25-00312, Defendant Moshe Kuba. Notice address, Moshe Kuba. Defendant, 1319 Dewey Street in Hollywood, Florida, 33019. Moshe Kuba at gmail.com. And PCCLB investigator N. Nichols. Plaintiff's witness, Pinellas County Code Enforcement, 631 Chestnut Street, Clearwater, Florida 33756. Violation address, 102, 3rd Street, Bel Air Beach, Florida 33786. Let the record reflect that there's no one in the gallery at this time. Neither Moshe Kuba or anyone else that appeared for the respondent. Thank you, Magistrate Yardley, Collette for the county, along with Investigator Nichols and Investigator Furland. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony given today be the truth and nothing but the truth? Yes, Your Majesty. And Magistrate, I want to also have some clarification regarding these. Investigator Nichols was researching and reviewing Acela, is that correct? That's correct. And Mr. Kuba, it does appear that he has paid citation CLBCT2500308. That's paid? That has been paid. Additionally, CLBCT250039, which is stated on the agenda and on... 309? 309, correct. On the agenda, and it was also listed in the Notice of Hearing, that citation was actually null-prosted by Investigator Nichols. Previously? 309 was null-prosted by Investigator Nichols. Okay. It was replaced with 00386. 00386. Just give me one second. I think I have those notations in here. And if it's helpful, 386 has been paid as well. Oh. So today we would only be here regarding 00312. Okay. Dealing with some different procedural... No, that's quite all right. And with regard to the first one that was paid, we don't need to deal with it, dismiss it or anything, because it's been paid, right? It's been paid. Okay, so there's no issue. So that would be... Okay, so we're here just on 312. Correct. Okay, great. Is that accurate, Investigator? That is correct. Thank you. I'm working off of my investigator's knowledge. Nope, that's good. All right. Okay. Good morning, Investigator Nichols. Good morning. Could you please summarize the facts and circumstances, including any supporting documentation regarding Now, the one citation we are here for today, the CLBCT 2500312, which is unlicensed contractor holding himself out to a homeowner while engaged in a remodel. Sure. Good morning, Magistrate. Good morning, Courts. Today, I'd like to narrate or unfold the complaints leading up to the violation. We received, or this office received a complaint from Mr. Israel Manaheim. Next time, I'll introduce into evidence the complaint. This complaint basically summarizes a quick summary from the homeowner alleging that a unlicensed contractor by the name of Moshi Kuba basically performed construction drywall work without a permit using HomePal CGC 153-3073 without registration in Pinellas County. Basically, he's saying that this unlicensed contractor was using the license of another to do work in Pinellas County. At the request, the owner requested to sign an affidavit that he knew that the work was being performed without a permit. Obviously, we found out that he paid it, but regardless, he was working without a permit and being unlicensed at that. So this is part of my Exhibit 1 as far as the complaint alleging work. There's some photos that we will see in a second. This is my communication with Mr. Manaheim basically stating, I know it's in fine print, alleging that the work was done by Mr. Kuba and hired a licensed contractor. So the homeowner, under the impression, believed originally that he hired a licensed contractor to basically remodel his home. During the process, the homeowner was basically originally was happy with the work, but as time was going by, it was taken forever. There was disagreement, and obviously he knew at some point that a permit wasn't pulled, so there was a disagreement between both parties. So at that time, the homeowner basically filed a complaint and terminated the alleged contract between the unlicensed contractor, which is Moshi Kuba, and the homeowner. At that time, the homeowner decided to hire a licensed contractor, which at that time, he did pull a permit and added the subcontractors for plumbing and electrical. So basically, this is basically describing that the homeowner knew that the unlicensed contractor was not licensed in Panamas County, and he decided to terminate the contract and hired a new contractor. Part of the evidence that Mr. Mannheim, the homeowner, provided was a copy of the contract, as you can see. I'll show you the original that when I spoke to the unlicensed contract that he did provide a copy of the original contract. This is the copy he provided me via email. As you can see, it's hard to read, but we'll be able to see it better later in my evidence pack. I have the package in front of me. Oh, you have the package? With that, I'd like to enter this into evidence as Exhibit 1. Complaint? The complaint, correct. County moves for the complaint in his county's Exhibit 1? Exhibit 1 is accepted into evidence. Moving on, I'd like to enter into evidence as far as showing the property belonging to Mr. Israel Mannheim. He is the property owner since 2016. This is one of many residents that he has in Pinellas County that was affected by the hurricane during both Helene and Milton, and there were some damages. This also showed, which I will provide other documents, showing that no permit was pulled at any time for the construction work being done during 2024. As you can see, it's 2023, and we have the 2025, which is the new GCE hired in the month of February of 2025. I'd like to enter this into evidence as Exhibit 2, showing the property belonging to Mr. Mannheim. County moves the property appraiser printout in his county's Exhibit 2. Exhibit 2 for the county is accepted into evidence. So after communicating with the homeowner, doing my due diligence, at the time we knew the unlicensed contractor, basically his name is Moshi Kuba, did a background to see the type of business, and the one we're concentrating on today is Kuba Group Holding, LLC, a business he holds since 2022 out of his home in Hollywood, Florida. There are many more. However, this is the LLC business he used for this particular address, showing that he is the owner and officer of Kuba Group Holding, LLC. I'd like to enter this into evidence as Exhibit 3. Investigator, before we move that into evidence, you said that this is the LLC that's at issue or that was used with respect to this homeowner. Can you provide some background as to why this specific LLC or how this specific LLC was used with the homeowner? So speaking with the homeowner, I apologize, speaking with the unlicensed contractor, he informed me that he used Kuba Group Holding as the business for this address. A check was not provided, contract was provided, which I'll introduce later on. However, the Kuba Group Holding was not listed on that particular contract because earlier I said that he used the license of another contractor to basically complete the work. Speaking to the unlicensed contractor, he holds several businesses, but this is the specific one he used whenever he does any type of business here in Pinellas County. Thank you for that clarification, Investigator. County Moose for the Sunbiz printout in his county's Exhibit 3. Exhibit 3 for the county's accepted evidence. This is the affidavit of a nonlicenser. We have several databases that we use from our database here in Pinellas County to the PCCLB to see if he holds a C license. He does not hold a C license dated a year back from the date of investigation. Also check the DVPR. There are no licenses listed for Mr. Kuba Moshi or for the business which is Kuba Group Holdings. This basically also did a data background on him to verify if he holds maybe a license in another county or another state. And at this time during my investigation, Mr. Moshi Kuba does not hold any type of license for construction. And I'd like to enter this into evidence as Exhibit 4. And Investigator, just for clarification, what were the search dates on? The search dates goes back from August 11, 2024 to August 11, 2025. We normally just go a year back, but I did take that little effort to go further back to see if there was any type of licensing. He did not hold any licensing. Was there any type of license that was held during the time that the contract was executed or the work was completed? No license was held during the time on the contract, which I will introduce next. Thank you. The affidavit of a nonlicensure is County's Exhibit 4? County's Exhibit 4 is accepted as evidence. That move on to the citation. Because a couple of citations was paid, I'll move to the last citation. This citation, which is on record with the courts and the magistrate, this is citation CT25-00312 in regards to the violation of unlicensed contract and holding himself out to a homeowner while engaging a remodel at the property. He basically misinformed the public via contract and to the homeowner that he was licensed at the time to perform the work. I'll introduce the contract, a copy of the original contract that was given to me by Mr. Moshi Kuba. As you can see, he used HomePal LLC. Yeah, I see that on it. But you searched the other one. Help me with all that. Go ahead. He used HomePal. Help me. Clearly unlicensed. But go ahead. Correct. He's clearly unlicensed. He used the contract of another. He initialed it using his initial, which he did confirm that was his initial. He did physically handed me these contracts showing that this was the contract between the homeowner and himself, basically suggesting that he did sign a contract and he did the work as an unlicensed contractor. So, here is a copy dated 10-31-2024. And I do have… And he responded, there's no connection with HomePal, right? So, he has no connection other than this particular person is a friend of his. This particular person is a friend? This particular business, HomePal LLC, there's a name, Adam Dietrich, is a friend of him. He used this specific business and license as his own and to… I got it. I see it. Go ahead. Okay. An investigator, what type of work is listed on the contract that would require a license and a permit? I know we are not discussing the permit, but… Example, he did drywall installation. Basically, knocked down textures, did basically remodel the home. There was some kitchen work he did. He basically remodeled the entire living room, kitchen, and bedroom as far as drywall is concerned, which requires a specialty contractor to do drywall. And I have some… Let's move that in. Okay. Sure. County moves for the contract, the HomePal LLC with the MK initials in his County's Exhibit 5. County's Exhibit 5 is accepted into evidence. Hearing no objection, we'll accept that. Here are some photos that was provided by the homeowner. Obviously, there's no dates on this, but these are some of the photos that was provided by Mr. Mannheim, the homeowner, to the property showing work being done. For example, drywall. We have framing on the door along with drywall. Oh, this, obviously, this is my photo, which is May 2nd. This is the day I was able to spoke with the homeowner. He invited me to the home, give me permission to home to take photos. Here's another section showing drywall and some other work being done. Just another quick of the room, the drywall doors, flooring that's being done. We continue with a few more photos. Here is a photo of the behind the kitchen, where the range is, where he installed new drywall in a frame for the microwave. Again, still dated May 2nd. Sorry, these have had them in order. Just another sample of work being done. Here we see that the drywall was done, but unfortunately, he had to read through the receptacle. I had to move them higher, another area of the house that the drywall is being done. Bathroom, drywall is being done. Obviously, plumbing is being worked, but we're not talking about plumbing at this time. And basically, where the range, where he did the drywall, mounted a frame to put the microwave, and some electrical work was done behind the range. I'd like to enter this into evidence as Exhibit 6. The county would move for photos from Investigator Nichols as well as photos that were sent by the homeowner in as county's composite Exhibit 6. The county's Exhibit 6 is accepted into evidence. But not least, part of our investigation is to, you know, with this, the city of Bel Air is where the property is located. One of the, we have an interlocal agreement with most of these cities, and with Bel Air Beach, one of the requirements for permitting or working is that because of the storm, any related storm, doesn't matter, they require a permit and they have to be a licensed contractor. I'd like to enter this into, and one more that I need to show you. I apologize. This is from our PCCLB website, showed that this particular type work needs a drywall specialty contractor that needs to be licensed in Pinellas County, which he is not, he's unlicensed. So I'd like to enter these into evidence as Exhibit 7. Investigator, before you mark that, you said that the Bel Air Beach was due to an interlocal agreement, or is this just a permitting requirement by the city of Bel Air Beach? So it's also, it's a permit requirement, but it's also speaking to someone, a representative from Bel Air, that they have to also be licensed to work in Bel Air Beach. If they are going to pull a permit, that contractor has to be licensed. Okay, I just wanted some clarification between an interlocal versus speaking with someone at the city. So, county moves for the printout of the permitting requirements for the city of Bel Air Beach and the definition for drywall specialty contractor and his county's composite Exhibit 7. Exhibit 7 is accepted evidence. And just to sum up, again, we're here because the violation for unlicensed contractor holding himself out. Mr. Moshi Kuba basically took a work, took on his work to rebuild, to remodel the home where Mr. Mannheim hired. He allegedly believed he was hiring a licensed contractor to do not just the drywall, but to remodel his beach house. But it turned out that there was some discussion between the homeowner and the unlicensed contractor. And at that time, he decided to terminate the contract and went ahead and hired a licensed contract, whereas it was able to be inspected and passed. So, again, we have an unlicensed contractor working in Pinellas County without the proper paperwork or the proper licensing. Investigator, I have some questions for you because we're no longer looking at the working without a permit or engaged in a residential remodel. We're looking at an unlicensed contractor holding himself out to a homeowner. It's my understanding that you spoke and you testified to receiving the contract from Mr. Kuba directly. Is that correct? That is correct. Can you please give the magistrate and myself a little bit further information of your specific conversation with Mr. Kuba regarding the 102 3rd Street? I believe it's 3rd Street in Bellar Beach property. Sure. So, once I was aware that there was a complaint from the homeowner, once I did do my due diligence and research the homeowner and the unlicensed contractor, I was able to touch base with him via telephone. He wanted to come in to meet with me, however. And I don't mean to interrupt, but who is him? Oh. Just for clarification for the record. Right. For the record, his unlicensed contractor. Oh, he did? Okay. Thank you. Yes. I had a conversation with him over the phone. Mr. Moshi Kuba came into the office. He met with me. Myself and Investigator Furlan decided to meet with him one-on-one where he sat with us and explained to us that he, in fact, did the work for this particular property located at 102 3rd Street. And he provided three distinct contracts to us. He handed them to me showing that, yes, they are three different dates, three different contracts that he specifically did the work at that address. And he did say that he did the work. He didn't deny not doing the work. He did not deny not being licensed. And he didn't deny, even though we're not testifying today, he did not deny not pulling a permit. He knew that he needed a permit and had to be licensed. He took responsibility, but he did come in, give his side of the story, provided the paperwork. I did ask for other evidence, such as checks. However, he did not have it at the time, but the contract alone with it saying paid was more than enough for me to move forward. And just to finish up, as far as the homeowner is concerned, he's a 75-year-old with heart disease, so he was not able to provide any other documentation other than just the printed copy of the contract he sent to us. The ones you showed me here. Correct. Yes, Your Majesty. In your conversation with Mr. Kuba, did you discuss the HomePool LLC with the CGC 1533076, which is regarding the citation that we are hearing this morning? Yes, I did. I did ask him about that, and he did admit that that wasn't his business or his license, that he was using a friend. I did ask if his friend, owner of the business, Adam Dietry for HomePow, was aware that he was using his license. He was going back and forth saying yes, he did know he was aware that he was using it. When I contacted the business, HomePow, and spoke to Mr. Adam Dietry, the owner of the license, there was some going back and forth like he did lend his license in the past to Mr. Moshi Kuba, but that he put a stop to it and he did not give him permission to do any work in Pinellas County at this time. And you said it was you, in addition to Investigator Furlan, you spoke with Mr. Kuba together, or is it a separate one-on-one conversation? We spoke to him together. Okay. Because at the time, too, I'm also new to this county. It's still five months, so obviously I'm still in training. So I was represented, well, not represented, she was standing in with me also. I have nothing further for Investigator Nichols. Thanks for that question, Counselor. I was going to ask myself. See, the reason she's asking the question is you searched out Kuba Group Holdings as opposed to searching out HomePow. Correct. Well, that's why she's asking. Not understanding. Rather clear to me that he held himself out. So anything else, Counselor? I'm going to call Investigator Furlan. Put it on the record. Put it on the record. May I be dismissing you? Excuse me. No problem. Good morning, Investigator Furlan. Good morning again. I just want to confirm, could you please summarize, as Investigator Nichols testified that you and Investigator Nichols spoke with Mr. Kuba, could you summarize the conversation that you had with Mr. Kuba? Sure. As Investigator Nichols stated, he did, and Moshi Kuba came into the office and did in fact state that he did do the work at said property. I believe he claimed he was unaware that he had to be licensed, but he did admit doing the work, provided the information that was requested. All right. I have nothing further for Investigator Furlan. Nothing further from the county. County rests. I find the public portion of the hearing closed. I find a violation regarding citation numbers CT 25-00312, which is a violation of state statute 49.127, and opposed a fine of $2,000, and county is awarded costs. And the cost is $331.80. Magistrate, we have no other cases for today. Okay, then we can go off the record, right? We're going to do the order afterwards, right? Yes. Communications, please stop recording.