Surrendered pool license no help to homeowners

Art Nadler

Thursday, June 26, 1997 | 11:48 a.m.

Mirage Pools is officially out of business.

The company voluntarily surrendered its pool building license to the State Contractors Board.

Chairman Kim Gregory told a packed conference room of homeowners whose pools remain unfinished or in need of warranty repairs that the board can do nothing more to help them.

"This board does not make laws. It has to follow regulations," Gregory said. "All of us (on the board) feel for you... This board is not a consumer protection agency."

Gregory told disgruntled homeowners at its Maryland Parkway office Wednesday that there are two bills currently before the Legislature. He suggested they encourage their legislators to support them.

Sen. Jon Porter, R-Boulder City, has Senate Bill 458 that would increase contractors' bonds, create an advisory committee to study consumer fraud and make it harder for contractors to file liens against homeowners.

Assemblyman John Lee, D-Las Vegas, has Assembly Bill 512 that would make it unlawful for swimming pool contractors to collect more than 2 percent of the price of the project up front.

Seven investigators sighted 49 complaints against Mirage Pools, owned by Randall and April Simmons. They covered workmanship complaints, abandonment charges, failure to do warranty work and in some instances failure to pull a construction permit.

One complaint cited how the homeowners association at the exclusive residential community Canyon Gate required Simmons to post a $1,200 security deposit before beginning a pool. The check later bounced, the investigator said.

Harry and Jerri Rogers told the board how Simmons contracted to do a $25,000 pool and collected $17,500 to dig a hole and install rebar. When they saw the project wasn't proceeding as scheduled, they filed a complaint with the Contractors Board in May and were upset that the board did nothing.

"He (Simmons) told me that he was going to file bankruptcy and couldn't finish the pool," Jerri Rogers said. "He said he would give me a list of subcontractors to finish the job, but he never did."

Harry Stephey, director of investigations with the Contractors Board, said Simmons has yet to file for bankruptcy.

"An early revocation by the board does no good," Gregory said. "It is the point of this board and staff to work with the contractor to get completion."

"So they fix a $100 problem and create a $30,000 problem by allowing the contractor to continue building pools," an angry Mick Kurtz said in reference to his $50,000 pool. He estimates he'll have to spend another $8,000 to $10,000 to correct problems Mirage Pools didn't fix.

Gregory had more self-help advice for homeowners in the future that included asking contractors to take out labor performance bonds. This would guarantee that a project is completed, he said.

"The pool industry is the only business where money is paid up front," Gregory said. "In other business deals, a contractor only gets paid a portion for work completed."

Gregory said he hoped the Legislature would give the board authority to ask for a company's financial statement anytime, instead of having to wait 30 days for a response.

Gregory also blamed municipal building departments for not making sure swimming pool contractors are licensed.

"This man (Simmons) was allowed to go to the point where he took a lot of money from people," an outraged Bruce Carter said. "This board could have been a little more diligent."

Richard Linstrom, senior deputy attorney general of telemarketing and consumer fraud, said his office is aggressively seeking information about Mirage Pools and the Simmonses. He is encouraging customers and subcontractors to call his office at 486-3794.