OSCODA –An Oscoda businessman is fuming after an apparent error by state government led to an inaccurate news release saying he’d been illegally operating without a license.

The Michigan Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs said Friday that it had nullified an earlier cease-and-desist order against Rourke Builders in Oscoda after owner Randy M. Rourke was able to prove he is fully licensed. The apparent confusion came because Rourke is licensed and the firm Rourke Builders is merely a “doing business as,” or DBA, filing.

The Friday news release from LARA reversed an earlier news release sent Monday and published in several media outlets, including The News, on Tuesday, that said Rourke was “providing residential builder services without possessing a residential builder’s license” and had been shut down by the state.

“I’ve been licensed since 1980,” Rourke, who is on vacation out of state and said he only learned his supposed violation through news reports, said Friday. “I’ve taken a hit on that, heavy, and I wasn’t guilty of anything … How do you fix that? They destroyed my reputation.”

Rourke said he has nine employees and 14 active contracts in Northeast Michigan.