Sales agents for a large metro Atlanta homebuilder, Robert Harris Homes, were told Thursday to head home.

"I got an e-mail to pack up my stuff and leave," said Don Silverberg, a broker at the Arbor Walk subdivision in Acworth, one of about 18 local communities where Robert Harris Homes has built houses. "I'm going to take a little vacation and decide what to do."

Ernie Hawley, the sales agent at Brookstone Common in Acworth, said he was "going to sit back and enjoy retirement" after learning Thursday he too was out of a job.

Woodstock-based Robert Harris Homes has built more than 2,500 houses, mostly in Georgia and a few in Manatee County, Fla., according to its Web site. It had recently expanded to North Frisco, Texas.

In metro Atlanta, the company built in Cherokee, Cobb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett and Jackson counties.

Management at Robert Harris Homes did not return phone calls Friday. A phone answering service in Texas said Robert Harris Homes employees there were suspended Thursday. The Florida office has a recording directing questions to Dustin Lough, a director with CRG Partners Group, a turnaround company with an office in Atlanta. Lough did not returns calls.

Robert Harris Homes was founded in 1994 and grew to be the nation's 135th biggest residential builder last year, according to builderonline.com. Its closings in 2007 numbered 337, down 15 percent from the year before, builderonline says.

Robert Harris Homes says on its Web site that Builder Magazine recognized the company in 2004 as one of the fastest-growing home builders. Prior to starting his Georgia business, founder Robert Harris had built more than 1,000 homes on the west coast of Florida, the company says.

Timothy McReynolds, the vice president of sales and marketing for Robert Harris Homes, said he was let go a few days ago after taking the job in December.

This year, the company has been plagued with work stoppages because bills went unpaid, frustrating subcontractors and potential buyers.

Angie Hays, an agent with Weichert Realtors Premier, said her clients — first-time homebuyers — selected a lot in December at Centennial Commons in Acworth. Then they chose the features they wanted inside, such as granite countertops.

"They picked out everything," Hays said.

Construction progressed as far as framing, then stopped. The couple, who live in an apartment with two children and an in-law, have been waiting since March for the work to resume, Hays said.

A Robert Harris Homes representative told the family Thursday that "the [sales] agents were all told to get their stuff and go home, that they were closing their doors," Hays said.

"I'm really concerned whether my clients should pursue that house," she said. "I think they have an emotional attachment to it" and are reluctant to give it up.