More than three months after a complaint is filed on my behalf with the Attorney General of Florida against Lennar, I am told the case is closed. As you’ll read, there are some strange events that led up to this and something is definitely off and doesn’t make sense, especially around the conversations I had with Brooke Adams – Florida Attorney.
Here’s a summary: First, I’m contacted by a person by the name of Vince Veccharella that indicates he was put on the filed complaint. I had no idea who he was, how his name got on the complaint or why his name was associated with the complaint. Second, once the case was closed, his name was listed in the subject line of the letter addressed to me (you’ll find the letter and other communications below). Third, even though he was to send me information a couple of weeks before, I never heard from him, until he indicated that he was “instructed not to discuss this matter.”
Trust me – it gets stranger.
As a reminder, I didn’t actually file the complaint. I sent this email to the citizens’ services email provided by Pam Bondi’s office. Soon after, I was contacted by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to send a variety of personal documents which included my contract with the builder, canceled checks for deposits as well as my HUD statement from closing.
That was on August 4, 2017. I heard nothing until November 3, 2017, when I receive a voicemail from someone I had never heard of before and was not with the Office of the Attorney General of Florida.
#OMG I've spent the last 10 minutes reading how @krisfannin has been systematically abused by @Lennar Home Builders and the #Florida @AGPamBondi 's office in his 4 yr pursuit of a just settlement for his dangerously defective home! https://t.co/HocmUqVWaU
— John Westra #VR #AR #Innovation (@John_Westra) November 22, 2017
Voicemail from Vince Veccharella on 11/03/2017
At 10:54 AM EST on 11/03/2017, I receive a voicemail from Vincent Veccharella. I had no idea who he was, but he indicated he was part of the complaint I had filed against WCI/Lennar.
Voicemail received from Vince Veccharella in response to a complaint I had filed against Lennar with the Florida Attorney General.
Here is a transcript of the voicemail from Vincent Veccharella:
Kris, hello. My name is Vince Veccharella and I understand you filed a complaint against WCI. And I was copied on the complaint because you listed my name as the general contractor. I’m not the contractor for WCI nor was I at the time your house was built. So if you could give me a call at [phone number redacted]. I had an investigator call me and I didn’t know if they contacted you but I clarified that with them, but I just wanted to let you know as well in case you wanted to refile your complaint with the proper information. Look forward to hearding from you. Thanks.
You can only imagine my confusion when I received the voicemail. I was not the one who completed and filed the complaint, I didn’t know who this person was, so I had no idea why his name was even on the complaint.
Call to Vince Veccharella
I called Vincent Veccharella back on November 3, 2017, at 2:36 PM EST. The call lasted 23 minutes and 47 seconds.
I called Vincent Veccharella back on the same day regarding 6111 Yeats Manor Drive. The call lasted 23 minutes and 47 seconds.
Highlights from the call with Vince Veccharella:
- Vince seemed as confused as I was. He explained that he received a large package of information from the Attorney General’s office and then spoke with an investigator.
- I told him I didn’t list his name as I didn’t even know who he was or the relevance for the general contractor at the time. I also told him that I didn’t actually file the complaint, rather it was filed on my behalf.
- He indicated the investigator said that he wasn’t authorized to change the information and would, therefore, have to ‘close the case’ for incorrect information listed.
- Vince was concerned that the case would be closed for this reason. He seemed to empathize with my situation and the amount of time I had to spend on it. He also indicated he would do whatever he could to help, including trying to find out who the right person would be.
- I told him I didn’t list his name, so I’m not sure who to contact to have it corrected.
- Vince told me he would email me as much information as he could to help me figure out who I would need to contact to find out how his name was listed and how to get it corrected.
Vincent Veccharella never sent me the email and information he had promised.
Facts from the call with Vince didn’t make sense.
Although Vince Veccharella indicated he wasn’t the general contractor during the time my house was built, his LinkedIn profile seems to indicate otherwise. Construction on my home started in early 2013 and I closed on the property in May of 2013.
He also never indicated that he went from a general contractor to Regional Vice President of Construction with the builder around that time.
Vincent Veccharella’s LinkedIn profile would indicate he was the general contractor for the builder at the time 6111 Yeats Manor Drive was built. I closed on the home in May 2013.
It was one of those interactions where your gut just tells you:
Something is off. Something just doesn’t seem right.
Although I made several calls to the AG office to find out what was going on, nobody seemed to know what I was talking about with respect to Vince Veccharella’s association with the complaint.
You know you scored a genuine Lennar home when #mold starts growing on your furniture. #mylennarhome #fraud @AGPamBondi pic.twitter.com/V6vDTI8NCJ
— Kris Fannin (@krisfannin) January 17, 2018
Call with Brooke (Adams) McCormick with Florida Attorney General
Twelve days later, I call the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to inquire about the complaint status. I’m connected with Brooke (Adams) McCormick, Assistant General Counsel at Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (here is her LinkedIn profile). According to Brooke Adams, she had been in charge of investigating the complaint against Lennar.
Call to Brooke Adams McCormick Assistant General Counsel at Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation on November 15, 2017.
Highlights of the call with Brooke Adams McCormick – Assistant General Counsel
- She indicated the investigation was closed, but couldn’t give me any additional information because it was confidential.
- I indicated it was my complaint, so how is it confidential? She just repeated that because the case was closed, she couldn’t give me any additional information.
- I commented that I was not given the opportunity to ask questions or get additional information during the case because I was never contacted.
- Although she indicated that I should have received a letter indicating the complaint was closed, I told her I had received nothing.
- I asked about Vince (I didn’t have his name in front of me at the time) and she indicated that she didn’t know who I was referencing.
- I asked how could a person’s name that I didn’t know have been added to my complaint. She wasn’t aware anyone was added.
- I told her I was confused as to how a complaint was closed without even a phone call to ask questions. She didn’t respond.
- I asked her if I could be given some indication as to the reason it was closed and she told me she couldn’t discuss anything. She was rather short in her tone and responses.
- I requested that she email the letter to me. She said she would check if that is allowed and call me back.
Here is the voicemail I received from Brooke Adams McCormick indicating she would send the email to me:
Letter from Attorney General – why is Vince Veccharella listed with the case number?
After receiving the voicemail from Brooke McCormick, I checked my email and found the letter that was mailed to me indicating the complaint was closed. There were several things off about the letter.
The letter from Brooke Adams McCormick indicating the complaint was closed. First, the address is wrong. Second, she calls me “Ms. Fannin” – they had hundreds of pages of documents I sent – I was clearly a male on those documents. Most interesting was that Vincent Veccharella was listed in the subject line of the letter.
Three things immediately stood out when I read the letter from Brooke (Adams) McCormick:
- The address was wrong. Of course, I never received the letter.
- I was addressed as “Ms. Fannin” – of all the documents I sent that have “Kristopher Fannin” and my address on them, how did she manage to get these items wrong?
- Vincent Veccharella was listed in the subject line of the letter. My complaint was not against Vince Veccharella, I didn’t know who he was (although keep reading as something very strange is about to happen), and my complaint was against the builder – Lennar/WCI Communities.
Of course, now things seemed even more off than before. That’s what happens in this nightmare – every time I get an answer, it raises more questions. So I sent this email to Brooke Adams McCormick on November 15, 2017:
My email to Brooke Adams McCormick of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation after seeing Vincent Veccharella’s name on the subject line regarding 6111 Yeats Manor Drive in Tampa, FL.
I then followed up with another email to Brooke Adams McCormick on November 16, 2017, after thinking about how strange all this was:
Email to Brooke Adams McCormick of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation requesting documentation of what was filed.
I was going off of what Vince Veccharella had indicated the investigator said about having to close the case because of incorrect information listed on the complaint. I wanted to see what was filed.
Brooke Adams McCormick called twice and left a voicemail once:
Brooke then immediately sent this email:
Brooke adams McCormick of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation sends an email that still doesn’t answer my question.
You see the email I sent. Her response still doesn’t answer my question.
We played phone tag for a bit. While waiting for her call, I made a call to Vince Veccharella.
Call to Vincent Veccharella
I had not heard from Vince Veccharella as he indicated he would on November 3, 2017. Especially because his name was in the subject line of the letter I received, I called him on November 16, 2017:
After seeing his name in the subject line of the Brooke Adams McCormick letter, I called Vincent Veccharella on November 16, 2017, and left a voicemail.
Vince did not pick up, so I left him a voicemail to please return my call.
Text message to Vincent Veccharella
Shortly after leaving a voicemail for Vince, I receive a text message that he can’t talk right now. I send him a text message with the following:
A text message that I sent to Vince Veccharella on November 16, 2017. He will respond with another message a couple of days later regarding conversations with Brooke Adams (McCormick) attorney.
I wouldn’t hear from Vince for a couple of more days in a strange text message I get from him. I’ll keep this in chronological order though.
Call from Brooke Adams McCormick of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation
I get a call from Brooke Adams McCormick on 11/16/2017 at 2:45 PM EST and it lasts 5M and 46S. It was a quick call filled with tension and I eventually excused myself from it.
Last call I received from Brooke Adams McCormick (Florida Attorney General Office) on 11/16/2017.
Highlights of the call with Brooke Adams McCormick:
- I asked if I could see the actual complaint and information filed against Lennar.
- She indicated that the complaint only contained everything I sent to the Attorney General’s office.
- I told her that couldn’t be true because nothing I sent had Vince Veccharella’s name on it and now his name was on the subject line of the complaint letter.
- She indicated that she couldn’t speak any more about it since it was closed.
- I told her I was concerned that my private information had been sent to additional people without my consent. I asked her for the people that received the information. She indicated she couldn’t tell me because the case was closed. I told her (again) I was never contacted during the investigation, so I never had a chance to ask questions while it was opened.
- The conversation quickly became unproductive, and IMO she was becoming very defensive and patronizing. Not the exact person you want serving the public interest. She seemed overly defensive while I was just trying to understand what had happened and if I needed to file another complaint because somehow a person I didn’t know was put on the original. She quickly started becoming more defensive.
- I excused myself from the call by telling her, “Good day.”
Last text message from Vince Veccharella
I receive a response from my original text message from Vince Veccharella. It was sent to me the morning of November 18, 2017, and two days after I called and then sent him a text message. Here it is:
Vince Veccharella – who seemed eager to send me information as we were both confused as to why he was listed on the Attorney General complaint (discussed with Brooke Adams – Attorney General Office) against Lennar/WCI regarding 6111 Yeats Manor Drive – indicates he’s been ‘instructed not to discuss this matter.’
I can’t be for certain, but I suspect Vince Veccharella was told “not to discuss this matter” after our initial discussion but before I spoke with Brooke Adams McCormick. Why? It would explain the reason I never heard from him after he indicated he would be glad to send whatever he could to help.
I’m am certain that none of this makes sense, it’s no coincidence (of all the strange things that have happened the last few years around this case – it’s never been a coincidence), and there is definitely something off and wrong.
Previous event with the Florida Attorney General’s office: Department of Business & Professional Regulation Complaint Filed Against Lennar
Note: As of the date of this publication, all the Lennar executives went silent and none of the construction repairs were ever made, including the promised replacements of two, improperly installed and defective A/C units causing extensive mold exposure and health issues.
