Former builder's license suspended

The president of a now-defunct area builder disputes some of the findings that recently led the Nevada State Contractor's Board to suspend his company's license.

The Board during its June 20 meeting in Las Vegas suspended the license of Rainbow Homes of Nevada Inc. "in the interest of public health, safety and welfare."

Frank Torres, deputy director of investigations for the Board, said he couldn't be more specific about the suspension because the investigation is ongoing.

But Victor DeBlasio, president of Rainbow, said the Board suspended the company's license after investigating construction-related complaints received from owners of four Rainbow homes built two to three years ago in Stagecoach.

"Those complaints are about things cosmetic in nature, nothing structural," DeBlasio said, including a door that won't close properly, cracks in stucco and drywall and problems with floor tile.

DeBlasio said while parts of "the Board's complaint are genuine, what I need is a clarification on other issues, what's real, what isn't, then I can deal with it."

He believes the Board investigators who inspected the homes didn't understand the "tolerance levels" of Rainbow's building materials and therefore "didn't do the right thing." DeBlasio said he didn't know how to challenge the determinations of investigators before action on Rainbow's license reached the suspension stage.

DeBlasio will get his chance to present those challenges at the next meeting of the Board on July 11 in Reno.

"We provided evidence at the first hearing, and now the contractor will give his defense of the case," Torres said.

Torres wouldn't speculate about what might happen at the meeting, but he did say generally that a suspended license could be revoked by the Board, in which case the contractor would be assessed the costs of the investigation and would have to reapply for a valid license.

Rainbow's problems with the Board began about a year ago, according to Frank DiMartino, DeBlasio's cousin and secretary/treasurer of the company. That's when Rainbow received notice of the complaints against its license.

DiMartino said he has resolved three complaints and is working on resolving the fourth, but DeBlasio said his cousin "hasn't communicated that to me."

DeBlasio said Rainbow built about 40 to 45 homes in Stagecoach, Silver Springs and Dayton. He described the company, which he said is legally dissolved, as a partnership between him and his cousin, with DeBlasio providing the building know-how and DiMartino providing some financial backing. DiMartino is president of Small Car Motors Inc. in Carson City.

Although DeBlasio has not spoken to DiMartino about Rainbow "in at least six months, I think between me and my cousin we'll be able to resolve all the problems."