Santa Rosa revokes license of Pensacola contractor Matt Banks amid fraud allegations

Benjamin Johnson, Pensacola News Journal
·2 min read
Escambia County resident David Bryan describes the lack of work completed by Banks Construction on his home's bathroom on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. Banks Construction began the remodel late last year and has not finished the job after taking thousands of dollars in payment.

The Santa Rosa Building Code Board of Adjustments and Appeals permanently revoked the license of the Banks Construction owner Wednesday, preventing him from working as a contractor in the county.

Matt Banks has reportedly received hundreds of accusations of taking money from Santa Rosa and Escambia County citizens and not completing renovation work. He will no longer be able to work as a contractor in Santa Rosa County after the board voted unanimously to revoke his license indefinitely.

"If you vote to revoke, he would not be able to be a part of any other company in Santa Rosa County that would get a license," County Attorney Tom Dannheisser told the board.

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The revocation comes after the board unanimously found Banks guilty of violating two Florida statutes while working on Gulf Breeze residents Kirk and Jennifer Anderson's home.

Jennifer told the News Journal that she paid Banks a $40,000 deposit for a kitchen remodel and after 18 months, the construction company has yet to complete the project.

The board voted unanimously to have Banks pay the Andersons $34,683 in restitution.

According to Northern District of Florida court records, Banks filed bankruptcy under his company Banks Construction LLC.

During the meeting, Dannheisser told the board members that he wouldn't recommend ordering Banks to pay the Andersons because "Escambia County has been trying to do that for better part of a year" and that there is "no indication he has any intent to make the consumers whole."

Banks Construction has had 15 complaints reach the Escambia County Contractor Competency Board's agenda since March of this year, including four complaints addressed during an Aug. 3 meeting, according to the competency board's agenda schedules. The complaints share similar allegations that Banks took deposits for work that was never completed.

During a July 6 meeting, the competency board concluded that Banks must provide over $60,000 in restitution to a couple for failing to complete their home remodel. Banks was given until Wednesday to pay the family under penalty of having his licensed revoked in Escambia County.

Banks is also under investigation by the Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement, a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, after Anderson gave an investigator a compiled list of other homeowners who used Banks Construction.

Benjamin Johnson can be reached at bjohnson@pnj.com or 850-435-8578

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Santa Rosa revokes Matt Banks' contractors license, orders restitution