Maryland finalizes fines against former energy-efficient home builder

A Kent Island home builder once singled out as an example of renewable energy projects in Maryland must pay more than $400,000 in restitution and fines for signing contracts with homebuyers and then walking away, the state Attorney General's Office said Thursday.

Nexus EnergyHomes of Stevensville violated the Home Builder Registration Act and other state laws, according to a final order released by the office. The Consumer Protection Division required the builder to replay the families $151,010, plus $235,567 in damages, $32,000 in penalties and $6,446 in costs.

The Attorney General's Office said Nexus EnergyHomes and its founders, CEO Vincent Paul Zanecki of Annapolis and President Michael W. Murphy, signed contracts with 12 families in Anne Arundel, Frederick, Howard and Queen Anne's counties, took substantial deposits for homes at a planned development in Frederick and then failed to complete them.

Nexus EnergyHomes has since closed, and neither the principals nor their attorneys could be reached for comment Thursday.

Nexus EnergyHomes and Zanecki were singled out for praise in former Gov. Martin O'Malley's 2012 State of the State address for the project in Frederick County, North Pointe GeoSolar Community. O'Malley said companies like Nexus EnergyHomes — which specialized in designing, selling and building pre-fab homes that were "net zero" users of energy — put Maryland at the forefront of renewable energy projects.

More