CURRAN’S CONSUMER PROTECTION DIVISION FILES CHARGES AGAINST GARRETT COUNTY BUILDER

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that his Consumer Protection Division has filed a statement of charges against a Garrett County home builder who it alleges took deposits and payments from a consumer and failed to complete construction, or refund the payments.

According to the charges, Donald Corby dba D&M Corby Construction of Oakland, Maryland, entered into a contract with a consumer to construct a home in Garrett County and accepted advance payments of $24,500. To date, however, Corby has not begun construction of the home, nor refunded the money paid. The Division alleges that Corby violated the Maryland Custom Home Protection Act, the Home Builder Registration Act and the Consumer Protection Act by failing to place the $24,500 into an escrow account or having a surety bond to cover the deposit and by failing to build the home as promised.

“ Consumers should protect themselves by ensuring that their deposit will be protected before writing a check to a builder,” said Attorney General Curran. Builders who collect deposits from consumers are required to protect those deposits by posting a bond or letter of credit with the Division or having consumers make deposits payable to an escrow account separate from the builder’s operating account. Consumers can check the method a builder has reported using to protect deposits by contacting Curran’s Home Builder Registration Unit at (410) 576-6573 in Baltimore, toll-free at (877) 261-8807, or by e-mail at homebuilder@oag.state.md.us.

The Division’s charges seek an order barring Corby from acting as a builder in the State of Maryland and requiring Corby to pay restitution to consumers who have been harmed by his unlawful practices, including the $24,500 collected from the consumer identified in the charges. Also, the Division is seeking a $1,000 civil penalty per day of unlawful practice and the costs of the investigation.

The Division also issued a notice seeking to revoke the home builder registration of Donald Corby dba D&M Corby Construction’s and immediately suspending Corby’s registration.

A public hearing on the charges will be held at the Consumer Protection Division, 200 Saint Paul Place, Baltimore, on November 1, 2004. Consumers who may have had problems with Donald Corby dba D&M Corby Construction should contact the Home Builder Registration Unit.

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