BALTIMORE (Legal Newsline) - Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler announced a final order Wednesday against two Carroll County plumbing companies and their owner after they allegedly violated the Maryland Consumer Protection Act.
All State Plumbing Inc., All State Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Inc., and Wayne Garrity, Sr., the companies' owner, allegedly deceived consumers by enabling unlicensed employees to sell and perform plumbing services, charging fees for permits that were never obtained and failing to schedule necessary inspections.
"This plumber played by his own set of rules and took advantage of unsuspecting consumers," Gansler said. "The severe penalty reflects the known extent of the violations and the large number of consumers who were harmed by this illicit business."
Garrity, his companies and their employees allegedly engaged in at least 7,079 violations of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act. The alleged violations took places throughout Maryland in Washington, Montgomery, Howard, Harford, Frederick, Cecil, Carroll, Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties.
The order requires the defendants to return all of the payments they received from consumers for unlicensed plumbing services and permits that were not provided with an initial $250,000 restitution payment. In addition, the order requires that the defendants pay a civil penalty of $707,900, pay $65,129.54 in costs, use licensed plumbers to perform all future plumbing services, document compliance with the final order, and comply with all state, local and municipal code requirements by obtaining permits and scheduling inspections.
Maryland AG announces $1M order against plumbing companies
