Editorial: Pool bill veto hurts consumers

Saturday, July 19, 1997 | 11:07 a.m.

JUST when you thought it was safe to build a pool, Gov. Bob Miller pushes your face in the wet cement.

On Friday, Miller vetoed a bill aimed at protecting homeowners who contract for a pool but are left high and dry by pool companies who take their money and run.

To make matters worse, some pool companies took customers' money but didn't pay their subcontractors, so homeowners had to pay them money, too. In effect, they were forced to pay twice for a pool they still don't have.

As the SUN and other media have been reporting, the number of homeowners shortchanged by pool companies has been growing at an alarming rate. We're talking thousands and thousands of dollars.

So who wouldn't want to protect consumers against the practice of prepaying for something they don't get? Gov. Bob Miller.

Why?

That's what the duped homeowners want to know.

In vetoing Assembly Bill 512, Miller said it may reduce the number of pool and spa contractors, thereby reducing consumer choice and undermining healthy competition.

We ask Miller: What's wrong with getting rid of businesses that take your money up front but don't deliver what you pay for?

Miller also objected to a provision in the bill that would have provided an installment payment plan. He said it would place "onerous financial demands on pool and spa contractors that could threaten their viability by forcing them to assume an unreasonable level of financial risk."

Hogwash!

What about the onerous demands placed on homeowners who must pay the cost of the pool up front before the project is even worked on? What about the onerous demands placed on homeowners who have given all their money to a company and then must pay more money because the company didn't honor its obligation to pay its subcontractor?

Can you imagine the construction firms demanding payment for your new house before they build it -- and then when it can't be built the company keeps your money?

Assemblyman John Lee, D-Las Vegas, sponsor of AB512, was right when he said that "people with more money than the consumer were able to make a case to the governor."

Gov. Miller certainly was not acting in the best interest of the consumer. Nor was he acting in the best interest of pool companies who do business the right way. He was protecting the companies who don't give a damn and will continue to rip off homeowners.

Don't be surprised if we see a flood of pool companies moving to or opening in Nevada. Word will get out that anything goes in this state -- and the consumer be damned.

If there were a strong state Contractors Board, maybe we wouldn't need this legislation. But the board has proven to be just another do-nothing body that could care less about consumers.

AB512 was good legislation. Lee and others fought hard to protect consumers. Miller is more worried about economic competition than economic protection.

But then, he didn't lose $20,000 to a pool shark. If he had, he may have been more understanding of homeowners' plights.

There is no real recourse for these homeowners. Sure, they could pay thousands in attorneys' fees to sue the pool sharks. But by the time the case got to court, the companies' money would be long gone, making it nearly impossible for homeowners to recoup losses.

Again, the consumer loses. The unscrupulous business owner wins.

Lee suggests that from now on, Southern Nevadans who have problems with pool contractors should call the governor.

We support that idea, and here's the office number: (702) 687-5670.

Better yet, maybe the duped homeowners could invite the governor to host a political fund-raiser in that big hole in the back yard where the pool was supposed to be.