Judge denies real estate license to Petitioner convicted of felony deposit account fraud after bouncing checks.

Petitioner appeals the denial of his application for a real estate salesperson’s license. In 2007, Petitioner built custom homes and bounced several checks to contractors. Subsequently, he was charged with felony deposit account fraud and pled nolo contendere to the charges. Petitioner was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay a fine. In April 2010, Petitioner was arrested because he failed to make payments on his fine. Petitioner presented five witnesses who testified that Petitioner was honest and trustworthy. The Judge determined that the Commission had the discretion to deny the application and that Petitioner failed to present sufficient evidence to rebut the Commission’s decision. Specifically, he failed to adequately explain the circumstances surrounding the bounced checks and did not take responsibility for his actions. Therefore the Judge found the license was appropriately DENIED.