All licensees and holders shall abide by all applicable codes, ordinances, and laws of Lake County and the State of Indiana, or any rules or regulations promulgated pursuant thereto. The Board may, upon its own motion, and shall, upon the verified written complaint setting forth specifically the wrongful action or acts complained of, investigate any action, acts or business transaction of a license holder or licensee and shall have the power to suspend a licensee, or revoke a license, if after due proceedings as herein provided, it shall find the license holder or licensee to be guilty of any of the following prohibited acts or conduct:
(A) Willful and deliberate disregard of the applicable Building and Zoning Construction Codes, ordinances and laws of Lake County and the State of Indiana, or any regulations promulgated pursuant thereto;
(B) Knowingly aiding or abetting any person or entity to evade the provisions of this subchapter or regulations promulgated pursuant thereto;
(C) Knowingly combining or conspiring with a person or entity with the intent to evade the provisions of this subchapter or rules and regulations thereto;
(D) Acting in the capacity of a licensed contractor or specialty contractor by falsely using a license issued in the name of another licensee or license holder;
(E) Diversion of funds or property received for a specified construction project or operation where, as a result of the diversion, the contractor is or will be unable to complete or fulfill the terms of his or her obligation or contract;
(F) Conviction of a felony for obtaining money under false pretenses, extortion, forgery, embezzlement, criminal conspiracy to defraud, or other like offense, and if a duly certified or exemplified copy of the record of conviction in the proceeding is filed with the Board, the Board shall revoke the license;
(G) Paying compensation in money or other valuable consideration to any person or entity other than a licensed contractor for rendering services or doing any act required by this subchapter to be performed by a licensed contractor;
(H) A violation of any provision of this subchapter by an agent or employee of any licensed contractor approved by the contractor. For the purpose of the preceding sentence, a course of conduct shown to have been consistently followed by an agent or employee shall constitute prima facie evidence of approval by the contractor;
(I) Any business entity or its designated agent or representative aggrieved by any action by the Board in suspending, revoking, or failing to issue or renew a license may seek judicial review by the Circuit Court of Lake County;
(J) Where the issues involved in judicial proceedings are pertinent to an inquiry before the Board, the verdict or judgement of the court in the proceeding shall be prima facie evidence of the existence of all facts at issue in the proceedings and necessarily adjudicated therein;
(K) The verdict, in any criminal prosecution in any court of record of which the applicant, licensee, or license holder was the defendant, shall be conclusive as to the facts charged and at issue in the prosecution;
(L) After the revocation of any license, no new license shall be issued to the same licensee or license holder within a period of at least one year subsequent to the date of revocation;
(M) Whenever any contractor's license issued under the provisions of this subchapter is revoked by the Board, the Board shall deliver the bond of the offending licensee to the County Attorney who shall institute proceedings to forfeit the bond;
(N) Whenever someone whose license has been revoked applies for a license, it shall be treated and handled as an initial application except as to the requirement of division (L) above; and
(O) (1) When any business entity, or a duly authorized agent or representative of such, acts as a contractor without first obtaining a license, or any individual or entity continues to act as a contractor after his or her license has been suspended or revoked, the entity shall be guilty of violating this section and be subject to an immediate fine or penalty in the amount of $500. This fine or penalty is in addition to any fine or penalty imposed as a judgement from any litigation initiated to bring the violator into compliance. Also, the business entity, or a duly authorized agent or representative of such shall immediately initiate an application to become a contractor or subcontractor under the provisions of this section and cease all work until such time as their license is issued.
(2) If the business entity, or a duly authorized agent or representative of such refuses to comply with the procedure stated above or allows more than 30 days to pass without paying the immediate fine of $500 and making application to become a duly licensed contractor under these provisions, the Director of his or her duly appointed representative shall, in the name of the Lake County Plan Commission, bring an action in the Circuit or Superior Courts of Lake County, Indiana for mandatory and injunctive relief in the enforcement of and to secure compliance with any order or orders issued by the Board, Director, or a duly appointed representative of the Director, and any action may be joined with an action to recover the penalties provided for in this section.
(P) Any person or entity violating any provision of this section or refusing a lawful order issued by the Board or Director, or a duly appointed representative of the Director, shall be fined an additional penalty (over and above the $500 identified as the immediate fine or penalty provided in division (O) above) in any sum not less than $100 nor more than $3,000 in addition to any court costs or other fees incurred. Each day of the unlawful activity shall constitute a separate offense.
(Prior Code, § 151.082) (Ord. 1628, passed 6-13-1995; Ord. 2312, passed 8-10-2010)