09-004298PL Office Of Financial Regulation vs. Arthur Nathan Razor Status: Closed Recommended Order on Wednesday, June 9, 2010.

Summary: Petitioner proved by clear and convincing evidence that Respondent was convicted of administrative violation involving dishonest dealing and that he failed to report suspension from Florida Bar by the Supreme Court. Recommend revocation.

STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

OFFICE OF FINANCIAL REGULATION, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) Case No. 09-4298PL

)

ARTHUR NATHAN RAZOR, )

)

Respondent. )

_________________________________)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, a formal hearing was held in this case

on February 23, 2010, by video teleconference, with the parties

appearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, before Patricia M. Hart,

a duly-designated Administrative Law Judge of the Division of

Administrative Hearings, who presided in Tallahassee, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Robert H. Schott, Esquire

Office of Financial Regulation

Post OFR Box 8050

Tallahassee, Florida 32314-8050

For Respondent: Arthur N. Razor, pro se

5751 Southwest 24th Avenue

Dania Beach, Florida 33312

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE

Whether the Respondent committed the violations alleged in

the Amended Administrative Complaint and Notice of Rights dated

June 16, 2009, and, if so, the penalty that should be imposed.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

In an Amended Administrative Complaint and Notice of Rights

dated June 16, 2009, the Office of Financial Regulation ("OFR")

asserted that it had grounds to revoke the mortgage broker's

license of Arthur Nathan Razor pursuant to Section 494.004(1)

and (2)(i) and (p), Florida Statutes (2007). 1 The OFR based its

preliminary decision to revoke Mr. Razor's mortgage broker's

license on allegations that Mr. Razor's license to practice law

in Florida had been suspended by the Florida Supreme Court on

September 11, 2007, and that Mr. Razor had not reported the

suspension to the Department. Mr. Razor timely requested an

administrative hearing, and the OFR transmitted the matter to

the Division of Administrative Hearings for assignment of an

administrative law judge. Pursuant to notice, the hearing was

held on February 23, 2010. At the hearing, the OFR presented

the testimony of David Tucker, and Petitioner's Exhibits A, B,

and D through I were offered and received into evidence.

As a preliminary matter at the hearing, Mr. Razor requested

that the administrative proceedings be stayed pending resolution

of a complaint he had filed in the United States District Court

for the Southern District of Florida seeking, among other

things, an injunction to prohibit the OFR from going forward

with these proceedings. Mr. Razor represented that he alleged

in the complaint that the disciplinary proceedings conducted by

the Florida Bar and by the Florida Supreme Court leading to the

suspension of his license to practice law constituted a

violation of his right to due process. He requested in the

complaint that the federal court enter an injunction prohibiting

the OFR from seeking to revoke his mortgage broker's license

because of the suspension of his license to practice law on the

grounds that revocation on this ground would, likewise, violate

his constitutional right to due process.

The complaint had not been served on the OFR as of the date

of the final hearing because Mr. Razor had requested that he be

allowed to proceed in federal court in forma pauperis but had

not yet received permission to do so. Although the OFR had not

been served with the complaint, it had a copy of the complaint

at the final hearing, which it provided to the undersigned for

review. After considering the allegations in Mr. Razor's

complaint and the allegations in the OFR's Amended

Administrative Complaint and noting that the petition had not

been served on the OFR, the undersigned denied Mr. Razor's

motion to stay these proceedings.

The one-volume transcript of the proceedings was filed with

the Division of Administrative Hearings on March 17, 2010. The

OFR timely filed its proposed findings of fact and conclusions

of law on April 6, 2010. On April 22, 2010, Mr. Razor filed

Respondent's Request for Clarification and Other Relief, in

which Mr. Razor represented that he had been unable to obtain a

copy of the transcript and requested additional time in which to

obtain the transcript and submit his proposed findings of fact

and conclusions of law. A telephone conference was held on

April 28, 2010, to discuss Mr. Razor's request. Mr. Razor was

advised of the steps necessary to obtain a copy of the

transcript from the Clerk of the Division of Administrative

Hearings, and an Order was entered on April 28, 2010, granting

Mr. Razor an extension of time until May 12, 2010, for filing

his proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Mr. Razor

timely filed his proposed findings of fact and conclusions of

law, and the proposals of both parties have been considered in

the preparation of this Recommended Order.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Based on the oral and documentary evidence presented at the

final hearing and on the entire record of this proceeding, the

following findings of fact are made:

1. The OFR is the state agency responsible for regulating

mortgage brokerage and mortgage lending in the State of Florida

and for licensing and regulating mortgage brokers.

§§ 494.0011(1); 494.0033(2), Fla. Stat.

2. At the time of the final hearing, Mr. Razor held an

inactive mortgage broker's license. The license was inactive

because Mr. Razor did not apply for a renewal of his license

when it expired on August 31, 2009. His license could be

reactivated should he submit an application for renewal.

3. Mr. Razor was a member of the Florida Bar and a

practicing attorney in Florida until, in an opinion issued

September 11, 2007, the Florida Supreme Court ordered Mr. Razor

suspended from the practice of law for a period of 18 months.

See Florida Bar v. Razor , 973 So. 2d 1125 (Fla. 2007).

4. In its opinion, the court approved the findings of fact

contained in the Report of the Referee; approved the Referee's

findings that Mr. Razor had violated Rules Regulating the

Florida Bar 3-4.2, 3-4.3, 4-5.3(b), and 4-8.4(a); and approved

the Referee's recommendation that Mr. Razor's license to

practice law be suspended for a period of 18 months.

5. Pertinent to this proceeding, Rules Regulating the

Florida Bar 3.4-3 provides:

The standards of professional conduct to be

observed by members of the bar are not

limited to the observance of rules and

avoidance of prohibited acts, and the

enumeration herein of certain categories of

misconduct as constituting grounds for

discipline shall not be deemed to be all-

inclusive nor shall the failure to specify

any particular act of misconduct be

construed as tolerance thereof. The

commission by a lawyer of any act that is

unlawful or contrary to honesty and justice,

whether the act is committed in the course

of the attorney's relations as an attorney

or otherwise, whether committed within or

outside the state of Florida, and whether or

not the act is a felony or misdemeanor, may

constitute a cause for discipline.

6. The Referee based his recommendation that Mr. Razor's

license to practice law be suspended for 18 months on

"Respondent's [Mr. Razor's] conduct in allowing his collaborator

(a suspended attorney) to practice law in an attempt to extort

money; his ratification of the misconduct by failing to take

immediate remedial action; his attempts to cover for the

suspended attorney by defending the letter during the Bar

investigation; and his inconsistent defense (lack of knowledge)

at the live and final hearings." These acts constitute

dishonest dealing.

7. Mr. Razor's license to practice law was suspended

30 days after September 11, 2007, or on October 11, 2007.

Mr. Razor did not report the suspension to the OFR because he

did not believe it to be a reportable offense.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

8. The Division of Administrative Hearings has

jurisdiction over the subject matter of this proceeding and of

the parties thereto pursuant to Sections 120.569 and 120.57(1),

Florida Statutes (2009).

9. In its Amended Administrative Complaint and Notice of

Rights, the OFR seeks to revoke Mr. Razor's license to act as a

mortgage broker in Florida. Accordingly, the OFR must prove the

allegations in the Amended Administrative Complaint by clear and

convincing evidence. Department of Banking & Finance, Division

of Securities & Investor Protection v. Osborne Stern & Co. , 670

So. 2d 932 (Fla. 1996); Ferris v. Turlington , 510 So. 2d 292

(Fla. 1987).

10. Section 494.0041, Florida Statutes, provides in

pertinent part:

(1) Whenever the OFR finds a person in

violation of an act specified in subsection

(2), it may enter an order imposing one or

more of the following penalties against the

person:

(a) Revocation of a license or

registration.

* * *

(2) Each of the following acts constitutes

a ground for which the disciplinary actions

specified in subsection (1) may be taken:

* * *

(i) Having a license, or the equivalent, to

practice any profession or occupation

revoked, suspended, or otherwise acted

against, including the denial of licensure

by a licensing authority of this state or

another state, territory, or country for

fraud, dishonest dealing, or any other act

of moral turpitude.

* * *

(p) Failure to comply with, or violation

of, any other provision of ss. 494.001-0077.

11. Based on the findings of fact herein, the OFR has

proven by clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Razor's license

to practice law in Florida was suspended for acts constituting

dishonest dealing, and it has, therefore, proven that Mr. Razor

violated Section 494.0041(2)(i), Florida Statutes.

12. Section 494.004(1), Florida Statutes, provides:

Each licensee under ss. 494.003 -494.0043

shall report, in writing, any conviction of,

or plea of nolo contendere to, regardless of

adjudication, any crime or administrative

violation that involves fraud, dishonest

dealing, or any other act of moral

turpitude, in any jurisdiction, by the

licensee or any natural person named in

s. 494.0031 (2)(d), not later than 30 days

after the date of conviction, entry of a

plea of nolo contendere, or final

administrative action.

13. Based on the findings of fact herein, Mr. Razor was

found guilty by the Florida Supreme Court of a violation of the

Rule Regulating the Florida Bar 3-4.3, involving "an act that is

unlawful or contrary to honesty and justice." This equates to a

conviction of an administrative violation involving dishonest

dealing, and Mr. Razor was required to report the suspension to

the OFR within 30 days of the date of conviction. Mr. Razor

failed to report to the OFR his conviction of this

administrative violation and the suspension of his license to

practice of law in Florida. The Department has, therefore,

proven by clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Razor violated

Section 494.004(1), Florida Statutes, which constitutes a

violation of Section 494.0041(2)(p), Florida Statutes.

RECOMMENDATION

Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of

Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Office of Financial Regulation

enter a final order finding that Arthur Nathan Razor violated

Section 494.0041(2)(i) and (p), Florida Statutes, and revoking

his Florida mortgage broker's license.

DONE AND ENTERED this 9th day of June, 2010, in

Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.

___________________________________

PATRICIA M. HART

Administrative Law Judge

Division of Administrative Hearings

The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060

[phone] SUNCOM 278-9675

Fax Filing [phone]

www.doah.state.fl.us

Filed with the Clerk of the

Division of Administrative Hearings

this 9th day of June, 2010.

ENDNOTE

1 / All references herein to the Florida Statutes are to the 2007

edition except as otherwise noted.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Robert H. Schott, Esquire

Office of Financial Regulation

Post Office Box 8050

Tallahassee, Florida 32314-8050

Arthur N. Razor

5751 Southwest 24th Avenue

Dania Beach, Florida 33312

J. Thomas Cardwell, Commissioner

Office of Financial Regulation

200 East Gaines Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0350

Robert Beitler, General Counsel

Department Financial Services

200 East Gaines Street, Suite 526

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0350

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO SUBMIT EXCEPTIONS

All parties have the right to submit written exceptions within

15 days from the date of this recommended order. Any exceptions

to this recommended order should be filed with the agency that

will issue the final order in this case.