Attorney General Gansler Takes Action Against the Registration of Three Home Builders; Reaches Settlement with 17 Others

BALTIMORE, MD (June 5, 2008) - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that his Consumer Protection Division’s Home Builder Registration Unit suspended the registration of James Richard Hooper of Greensboro for violating the Home Builder Registration Act. The Unit suspended Hooper’s registration after he failed to pay a $25,000 judgment entered against him in the District Court for Queen Anne’s County in favor of a consumer.

The Unit also suspended the registrations of Cedar Creek Builders, LLC of Goldsboro and F&M Builders, Inc. of Dunkirk for failing to satisfy judgments entered against each builder in favor of consumers. Cedar Creek Builders failed to satisfy a $24,998 judgment entered against it in the District Court for Caroline County. F&M Builders, Inc. failed to satisfy a judgment entered against it in the amount of $4,445 in the District Court for Calvert County. It is a violation under the Home Builder Registration Act to have an unsatisfied final judgment in favor of a consumer.
The Unit also entered into settlement agreements with 17 other home builders who have agreed to pay penalties to settle allegations that they violated Maryland’s building laws, including operating without being registered or failing to make required disclosures to the Home Builder Registration Unit in their registration applications. The settlements were with the following builders:

• Glen Arm Homes, LLC (Baltimore County)
• The Kluge Group, Inc. (Carroll County
• L.A. Adams Construction, Inc. (Prince George’s County)
• Crane Homes, LLC (Montgomery County)
• Catoctin Homes, Inc. (Howard County)
• Extraordinary Custom Homes, Inc. (Prince George’s County)
• Oscads Habitat Construction & Management, LLC (Howard County)
• Tucker Homes, LLC (Wicomico County)
• Timothy Wenzel t/a Baystate Properties (Baltimore County)
• Humberson Homes, Inc. (Garrett County)
• Shore Builders Custom Homes, Inc. (Queen Anne’s County)
• Arthur John Spinetta t/a General Construction Management (Anne Arundel County)
• MSA Custom Homes (Baltimore County)
• JJS Construction, LLC (Anne Arundel County)
• Yeoho Properties, LLC (Baltimore County)
• Melvin C. Benhoff (Baltimore County)
• Vincent S. Serio (Howard County)

The settlements prohibit the companies from acting as home builders in the State unless they first register with the Home Builder Registration Unit and they comply with other Maryland laws governing home builders. The builders also agreed to submit to arbitration consumer complaints that cannot be resolved through mediation, using the Division’s arbitration program.

“Home builders must be registered before they can enter into contracts to build homes for consumers and must comply with the requirements for registration,” said Attorney General Gansler. New home buyers are encouraged to check whether their builder is registered by contacting the Division’s Home Builder Registration Unit at (410) 576-6573 or toll-free at (877) 259-4525, or by visiting the Attorney General’s website at www.oag.state.md.us/homebuilder.