Public records obtained by the Arizona Capitol Times revealed that two state senators intervened in a business license complaint case investigation in 2023 for the husband of one of the senators.
On Dec. 7, 2022, Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, called the Arizona Board of Technical Registration, or BTR, asking for the board to cease its investigation of her husband, Hal Kunnen, a home inspector based in Flagstaff and the Phoenix metro area.
Kunnen was the subject of a complaint filed on July 8, 2022, after he failed to accurately report that an air conditioning unit was not working properly for a home inspection he performed in Mesa, according to a consent agreement with BTR. The unit had a leak and caused damage to the ceiling of the property he inspected.
During Rogers’s call to the board’s executive director, Judith Stapley, she asked for the board to stop its investigation because the complaint had been dropped. The board’s Enforcement Advisory Committee scheduled a hearing for Kunnen on Jan. 17, 2023, to discuss the case and determined the allegations of the complaint were not sustained.
“I would like to discuss the possibility of dismissing it once you have proof that the complainant got it resolved with the company,” Rogers said in a voicemail left with Stapley. “I think it’s a futile effort and wasteful as it were to continue to pursue this.”
But the board also determined Kunnen’s inspection failed to meet other standards of professional practice for Arizona Home Inspectors, leading to a letter of reprimand issued to Kunnen and requiring him to renew his registration.
In Rogers’ call, she said she was concerned about the rights of Kunnen as one of her “constituents.” She did not inform Stapley in the voicemail that Kunnen is her husband.
Rogers did not respond to a request for comment from the Arizona Capitol Times.
Shortly after Rogers’ call, Sen. Justine Wadsack, R-Tucson, attended the Enforcement Advisory Committee meeting on Jan. 17, 2023, to represent Kunnen during the committee’s executive session meeting to review his case.
The board didn’t stop investigating Kunnen after the hearing, leading to another discussion of Kunnen’s case during a board meeting scheduled for Feb. 28, 2023.
Wadsack sent an email to a BTR investigator, Kaitlyn Crawford, asking why the investigation wasn’t dismissed if Kunnen’s complaint had been dropped. She also said these hearings have led to stress for other home inspectors facing similar issues.
“In any other industry, agency or civil court, a dropped complaint would lead to ‘no fee or penalty’ and a swift ‘dismissal,’” Wadsack wrote in her email to Crawford.
Stapley responded to Wadsack’s email and said a complaint being dropped doesn’t clear the board from examining the professional practices of a licensee. She also told Wadsack that “potential legislation” the senator spoke of that was meant to “protect the rights of home inspectors” would protect the industry rather than the public.
“Withdrawal of a complaint by a complainant has no relevance to whether a licensed professional meets minimum professional standard in performing a home inspection or preparing a home inspection report,” Stapley wrote in her reply to Wadsack.
During this legislative session, Wadsack introduced Senate Bill 1120, which would require agencies or occupational associations with disciplinary authority over its members to investigate complaints against business licensees only if the complainant has had a “substantial nexus” or business transaction with the subject of the complaint.
During a Senate Government Committee hearing for the bill on Feb. 14, 2024, Wadsack said the measure is intended to stop frivolous complaints filed against someone for personal reasons.
“If you’re a realtor and you don’t like another realtor’s political ideology or the color of their hair, the way they smiled at you one day, you can’t go file a complaint against them to try and have something go against their license unless the issue is germane to a transaction you might’ve had with them,” she said.
Rogers, a member of the committee, said she was glad to see Wadsack run the bill and that the issue with complaints has been made “personal,” but neither Rogers nor Wadsack mentioned their involvement with Kunnen’s case.
“This has been made personal in our government. The weaponization of government from the federal government all the way down now to boards,” Rogers said. “Throughout the strata here, this has been made personal. This is not what government is intended to do. It is to protect us, not hurt us.”
Stapley initially responded to requests for an interview from the Capitol Times but didn’t respond after the Capitol Times refused to send interview questions over an email.
On Oct. 24, 2023, Kunnen requested to settle BTR’s case against him and entered negotiations with Assistant Attorney General Deanie Reh, asking to remain in good standing with the board and for his settlement agreement to remain private, not being publicly posted to “protect the company” he works for.
Reh rejected his offer and told him his terms weren’t legally possible, warning him if a judge found that he was responsible for any penalties, he may be subject to a max $2,000 civil penalty and legal expenses from BTR.
Wadsack again intervened in Kunnen’s case after Reh’s rejection of his offer. In an email sent on Oct. 26, and said she was deeply concerned with how the Attorney General’s Office and BTR handled his case.
“In my observation, the responses from the BTR and AG’s office appear to be a heavy-handed abuse of process against a Arizona State Licensee,” Wadsack wrote in her email.
On Nov. 20, Wadsack called Stapley and left a voicemail in which she said she didn’t understand why Kunnen’s case wasn’t resolved.
“As a realtor, I know and work with a lot of various home inspectors that have gone through similar types of situations but never to this degree of what it is that he’s going through,” Wadsack said in her voicemail.
Will Humble, the executive director for the Arizona Public Health Association and former director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, said it’s entirely appropriate for a state legislator to check in on the actions of the executive branch on behalf of a constituent’s grievances, but questioned Wadsack’s involvement with Kunnen’s case.
“You can read between the lines and pretty easily figure out what happened here, which is Rogers was like ‘can you help me with this? I have a conflict of interest,’” Humble said. “There are situations when there’s legislative branch oversight with executive branch actions when it’s not your own constituent and it’s a policy issue but the direct link with Rogers’ husband is what makes this different from what would be a normal oversight role.”
Kunnen settled with the board on Jan. 30, 2024, weeks before Wadsack introduced her legislative measure in the form of a strike-everything amendment to SB1120 on Feb. 12, 2024.
Wadsack didn’t respond to a request for comment from the Arizona Capitol Times. Her bill passed the Senate but has not gotten a full vote from the House yet.
