Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. issued a cease and desist order April 6 against Jeffrey Bryant of Bethesda, the managing owner listed on the state home builder application for Advanced Building Solution Inc. of Beltsville.

Advanced Building Solutions Inc. was located at 4780 Corridor Place in Beltsville, according to Bryant's June 6, 2001, application to register as a state home builder.

In June 2003, Daniel Ly of Silver Spring contracted with Bryant and Advanced Building Solutions Inc. to have a single-family home built in Montgomery County, Ly said in a affidavit he filed with the state.

Ly gave Bryant a deposit of $16,000 and $700 for an appraisal of the property.

On Sept. 26, 2002, Bryant did not show for the settlement on the purchase of Ly's home. Ly attempted on numerous occasions to contact Bryant, but Bryant eventually stopped returning his calls. No work was ever done on Ly's home and no money was refunded.

Three other consumers have been identified in the state's charges against Bryant-- Mohamed Geblaoui of Burtonsville, Millicent Springs-Campbell of the District, and Praful Kothari of Laurel.

A telephone number listed for Advanced Building Solutions Inc. on the state's application did not reach the company. James Salter, attorney for Jeffrey Bryant, said he had "no comment" regarding the case.

Additionally, several more customers have contacted the state, since the charges were announced, said Steven M. Sakamoto-Wengel, an assistant attorney general.

Ly filed a complaint against Bryant with Prince George's District Court and the court entered a default judgement against Bryant and Advanced Building Solution Inc. for $16,700. Bryant did not pay the judgement.

Then, on Oct. 22, 2003 a new home builder application was filed for the Precision Group Inc. of Bethesda with Jeffrey Bryant as the managing owner.

The application lacked complete information and was accompanied by a $600 registration fee that was returned to the state's Home Builder Registration Unit for non-sufficient funds.

Bryant and the Precision Group were unresponsive to attempts to collect the fee, said Rosemarie Wittig, a unit employee in an affidavit.

A later unit investigation found that Bryant had a history of law suits, unsatisfied consumer judgements and had been a principal of Advanced Building Solutions Inc.

The unit denied Precision Group Inc.'s application for failure to disclose Bryant's status as managing owner of an entity that previously applied for registration, failure to disclose lawsuits and unsatisfied judgements and failure to pay registration fee.

A public hearing on the attorney general's charges will be held beginning June 18 at the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings in Hunt Valley. Consumers who may have had problems with Bryant, Advanced Building Solution Inc. or the Precision Group Inc. should call the Home Builder Registration Unit at 410-576-6573 or toll-free 877-259-4525.

E-mail Meghan Mullan at

mmullan@gazette.net.

Prince George's Hospital Center employees held a rally Wednesday blasting the County Council for its opposition to the county executive's negotiations with state officials on behalf of the hospital.

Employees fear the political wrangling will cause state officials to withdraw much-needed funds. The state has given county officials until Friday to resolve their differences. The council was considering a compromise on Wednesday.

"It is my understanding that the $10 million will be pulled off the table Friday. How are we going to get that back? It's been really hard," Carol A. Bragg, president of the Professional Staff Nurses Association, said in an interview after the rally at the hospital's pavilion.

The state approved a one-time rate increase for hospital services that is expected to generate $10 million. State officials have threatened to withdraw the rate increase.

"It's been real emotional," Bragg said, explaining anxiety of the 2,500 employees who work at the Cheverly facility and the thousands of patients they serve.

"This is not an easy message. This is not an easy time," said

Bragg as she stood behind a purple and gold union banner with a message to the Prince George's County Council: "Get the Job Done! Save Prince George's Health Care."

Bragg said the past nine months have been difficult for employees worried about pensions, paychecks and patients, and difficult for patients wondering whether the hospital would remain open. "It's hard for us because for the last nine months we have been in the middle between the County Council, the county executive and the state. They have been playing Ping-Pong," Bragg said.

Nine months ago County Council members stood with County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) when he announced a plan to bail out the cash-strapped hospital with $30 million from county coffers. He also planned to seek additional funds from state officials, but wrangled with them over who would appoint the most members to a hospital reform oversight committee. Johnson and Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) later agreed to a five-member committee that gave Johnson three appointments and the governor authority to appoint the committee chairman. They signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) detailing the committee assignments along with other details, including $5 million cash from the state and $10 million from the rate increase.

But a majority of the County Council opposed the MOU because council leaders had been excluded from final negotiations.

The council passed a resolution on March 2 outlining its concerns and demands. A day later, auditor Ernst & Young issued a long-awaited report showing the hospital had "going concerns" financially. Johnson held a press conference at the hospital the following day, blaming the council for the unfavorable audit and rallied hospital employees and union workers to call their council members.

For the past few weeks, council members' phones have been ringing constantly and they have received a flood of e-mails from workers and supporters of the hospital.

"We've amassed thousands of calls and e-mails to their offices. They were angry and asked us to stop because their phones were ringing off the hook," said Bragg, adding that she was invited to meet with council leaders on Tuesday. Council staff, however, said council members received a few calls from individuals who had apparently been told to call and told what to say.

Bragg met council Chairman Tony Knotts (D-Dist. 8) of Temple Hills, Vice Chairman Samuel Dean (D-Dist. 6) of Mitchellville, Councilwoman Camille Exum (D-Dist. 7) of Capitol Heights and Councilman David C. Harrington (D-Dist. 5) of Bladensburg.

Exum is the council's representative on the Board of Directors for Dimensions Healthcare Systems, which manages the hospital. Harrington could serve as the council's representative to the oversight committee--pending agreements reached this week but not finalized as of Wednesday.

Knotts could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. Earlier this week he insisted the council has been seeking long-term solutions for the hospital.

"The hospital has been bleeding and others sought to put a finger in to stop the bleeding. I think this council took it off life support," Knotts told reporters on Tuesday.

Knotts said the negative audit had been a long time coming.

"The audit had been delayed for months prior to our action," he said.

Johnson met with council leaders Monday morning and agreed to some compromises, which Johnson said state officials have accepted. Their agreement included allowing Johnson's council appointee, Thomas Hendershot (D-Dist. 3) of New Carrollton, to remain on the oversight committee and allowing the council to appoint Harrington.

"I talked to Secretary Sabatini yesterday morning and he agreed to amend the MOU to give the council an additional vote," Johnson said at a Tuesday press conference on state legislative matters. "So the ball is really in [the council's] court to accept the MOU and let's go forward to save the hospital."

E-mail Sonsyrea Tate at state@gazette.net.