Bill would tighten law on pool contractors

Tuesday, June 3, 1997 | 11:32 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A Henderson homeowner told an Assembly committee he paid $31,000 for a swimming pool that he can't swim in because it can't pass city inspection.

Russ Maggio said the pool looks good but the plumbing is defective. He filed a complaint with the State Contractors Board in February but the agency has yet to start its investigation.

Maggio's testimony was presented to the Assembly Commerce Committee in support of a bill by Assemblyman John Lee, D-Las Vegas, to tighten the law on swimming pool contractors, who have presented major problems in Clark County.

But before the bill is passed, Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, wants to make sure the Contractors Board is doing its job. She asked for three years of records on the number of complaints filed, how long it took the board to act and what type of disciplinary action was taken.

"I want to see the ability of the contractors board to provide relief," she said.

Kay Barber, executive director of the contractors board, said there have been only two companies -- Oasis and Catalina -- that have lost their licenses. The board, she said, has received 810 complaints, most of them from Southern Nevada, about contractors who are hired to do the job but fail to perform after receiving payment.

Alfredo Alonso, lobbyist for the Contractors Board, said it's "been only two years since the Contractors Board has gotten new powers." He said the board will be able to effectively handle the cases in the future.

Barber promised to get on Maggio's case as soon as the hearing was completed. Maggio's beef is with Elite Pools Inc., which he said had a good record for designing pools and never had a complaint against it. His pool "looks good" and holds water but he's not allowed to swim in it.

The subcontractors are often left without payment by the contractor. They then put a lien on the home, even though the homeowner has paid the full bill to the contractor.

State Consumer Affairs Commissioner Patricia Morse Jarman suggested the law be changed to allow the subcontractor to go after the nonpaying contractor, rather than putting a lien on the innocent homeowner. Committee Chairman Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said that idea would be explored.

Barber told the committee that homeowners have paid $20,000 to $25,000 up front to contractors and ended up with nothing but a hole in the ground. In one case, the contractor filed bankruptcy. In others, the subcontractors are so busy they can't handle all the work in Southern Nevada where the construction industry is strong.

Maggio said his contractor apparently wasn't afraid of the Contractors Board. He even had a contract with the company for a $500-a-day rebate if the pool, started in June 1996, wasn't completed by April of this year. It was supposed to be finished by August 1996.

"In 10 days, it will be a year. I gave all my money. There is nothing left," Maggio said.

The bill would limit the amount the customer could put down on the pool to $200 or 2 percent of the price stated in the contract. The contractor could not be paid until each phase was completed, rather than in advance.

A soil analyst by a professional engineer would have to be completed before work started to ensure the ground would hold the pool and not let it sink, once finished.

The Contractors Board also would be required to put out information to be distributed to potential customers by the contractors.

Alonso said the bill "may not be a fix-all but it's a first step."

Lee testified that "predator contractors" represent only 1 percent of the swimming pool contractors.