A former city building inspector has been ripped by the State Ethics Commission, which called him out for an “egregious misuse” of his public position when he changed the status of his own building permit from “withdrawn” to “approved.”

The Massachusetts State Ethics Commission has sent a public education letter to ex-Lawrence building inspector Julian Perez after he violated the state’s conflict of interest law.

Perez used his official city position to change the status of his own building permit to “approved” after the city had withdrawn the permit and issued Perez a stop-work order.

“… It was (an) egregious misuse of your official position, which you knew or had reason to know, including from advice you received from the Commission’s Legal Division,” State Ethics Commission Executive Director David Wilson wrote in the letter to Perez.

“Changing the status of one’s own building permit from ‘withdrawn’ to ‘approved’ is a very serious violation of the conflict of interest law because it involves the deliberate falsification of a city record which certifies that construction is in compliance with local laws and state building codes,” the commission’s director added.

In 2021, Perez purchased a distressed Jackson Street property as an investment, obtained a building permit, and began renovations.

Then in 2022, the Lawrence building commissioner issued a stop-work order for Perez “working beyond the scope of the permit,” and issued a notice of violation and correction order for building code violations. The building commissioner changed the status of Perez’s building permit from “issued” to “withdrawn” in the city’s permit management software.

Perez later used his position as building inspector to access the permit management software and change the status of his permit from “withdrawn” to “approved.”

Such violations of the law can lead to fines of $10,000. For instance, a town worker on the South Shore was recently fined $10,000 for using public resources to replace the fence on his private property.

But Perez won’t be fined because the city of Lawrence had “already imposed significant financial and other administrative sanctions on him for his misconduct with the building permit,” according to the commission.

After the city discovered Perez changed the status of his building permit, the city suspended him without pay for 10 days last year.

Then earlier this year when the State Ethics Commission’s Enforcement Division summonsed the city to produce records, the city placed Perez on paid administrative leave — telling him it was because he was under commission investigation.

Perez retired as a Lawrence building inspector in October.

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The commission’s executive director wrote, “Based upon its review of this matter, the Commission has determined that the public interest will be best served by the issuance of this Public Education Letter to you and that your receipt of this letter should be sufficient to ensure your understanding of and future compliance with the conflict of interest law.”