CONSUMER PROTECTION DIVISION ORDERS HOME BUILDER TO PAY MORE THAN $1,278,494

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that his Consumer Protection Division has issued a final order requiring a builder and his companies to refund payments of $762,494.90 collected from consumers in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties and pay penalties of $516,000. The Division found that Jeffrey Bryant and his companies, Advanced Building Solutions, Inc. and the Precision Group, Inc., violated Maryland’s Custom Home Protection Act and New Home Deposits Act by failing to place money paid by consumers into an escrow account or having a surety bond to cover the deposits; violated the Home Builder Registration Act by acting as a home builder without being registered with the Division’s Home Builder Registration Unit; and violated the Consumer Protection Act by failing to build homes as promised.

The Division found that Bryant and his companies collected substantial advance payments from at least 32 consumers toward new homes, failed to protect those advance payments as required by Maryland law, and failed to complete, or in many cases even begin, construction of the homes, and that Bryant failed to pay refunds to any of the consumers.

The order bars Bryant, Advanced Building Solutions, Inc. and the Precision Group, Inc. from acting as a home builder in the State of Maryland unless registered as a home builder under Maryland’s Home Builder Registration Act, requires payment of restitution of the $762,494.90 they received from consumers for new homes that were never built or completed, payment of civil penalties in the amount of $516,000 and payment of costs in the amount of $7,120.53.

“ Before paying any money, consumers need to protect the biggest investment of their lifetime by ensuring that their home is being built by a registered home builder and that any deposits they make are protected by an escrow account, bond or letter of credit,” said Attorney General Curran.

Consumers can check whether their builder is registered and how the builder protects deposit money by contacting the Home Builder Registration Unit at (410) 576-6573 in Baltimore or toll free at (877) 259-4525, or by checking on the Attorney General’s website: www.oag.state.md.us/homebuilder.
 

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