Fraud Alert: Contractor Surrenders License

Cape Coral homeowner Jason Renner filed a lawsuit against contractor Delta Build Services after he paid nearly $240,000 for a home that was never finished.  Delta’s license holder, Ronald Riccardi II, voluntarily surrendered his general contractor license under a settlement stipulation with the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR). 

By surrendering his license rather than facing a disciplinary proceeding, Riccardi avoided suspension, fines, or a formal finding of wrongdoing.

Attorney Beatriz Cardoza of ZinnLaw, who represents Renner and many other homeowners facing similar challenges wants answers to the systemic gaps in DBPR’s policies and address key questions such as:

What does Riccardi’s license surrender mean for affected homeowners, and how does it let contractors avoid true accountability?

If there are no fines and no way to enforce restitution, what does that mean for homeowners seeking justice, and how does it leave them unprotected?

How effective is the Construction Recovery Fund in actually helping homeowners recover their losses?

Contractors can legally resurface by operating under a new license holder Cardoza says. How does this loophole put homeowners at risk of being victimized again? With Cape Coral already identified as a hotspot for contractor fraud, this raises urgent questions about whether state regulators are doing enough to protect Florida homeowners.