HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says a now-out-of-business modular home builder's shoddy work cost consumers a half-million dollars in repairs.

Blumenthal filed suit against Bowden Development and its owner, Lloyd Bowden, Wednesday, on behalf of the state's Department of Consumer Protection, which received complaints from five homebuyers.

Blumenthal says Bowden did not bolt roofs to walls or install vital column supports.

"These mistakes could have been fatal, collapsing roofs or walls, injuring or even killing families," Blumenthal said. "The developer left these homes unfinished, uninhabitable and unsafe because he was unqualified and unscrupulous."

Also, Bowden's work resulted in cracked walls, unsecure foundations, water damage and missed deadlines, Blumenthal said.

The company also would not make repairs when consumers complained, the suit adds.

"When consumers rightly demanded fixes, the developer not only refused, but stopped working or talking to them," Blumenthal said. "Stuck with dangerous, uninhabitable homes, buyers had to spend hundreds of thousands in repairs."

The suit seeks restitution for consumers. Blumenthal also claims Bowden misrepresented his company's qualifications to build homes and falsely denied he had ever been sued and failed to pay his subcontractors.

From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at john@legalnewsline.com.