Pool owner protections await OK: Some victims say bill doesn’t go far enough

Friday, June 15, 2001 | 11:06 a.m.

Homeowners such as Christina Schofield can take some credit that Gov. Kenny Guinn has awaiting his signature a bill designed to protect Nevadans from shady swimming pool contractors.

Senate Bill 216 was hailed in some quarters as one of the best pro-consumer bills the Nevada Legislature passed this year. The legislation discourages deceptive advertising, strengthens regulations dealing with pool construction, establishes criminal penalties for violations of the law and designates a state ombudsman to handle consumer complaints.

Whether it does any good remains to be seen. Schofield, for one, has her doubts.

"It's pretty much the same as the laws we have now because it didn't close the loophole that allows swimming pool companies to also lend money secured by first deeds of trust," Schofield said. "There is still nothing to stop pool companies from foreclosing on homes."

The Las Vegas resident was one of more than two dozen individuals who complained to the state about work performed by the now-defunct Cascade Pools, also of Las Vegas. Her pool has cracks and a waterfall that runs backward. She and other customers were also stuck with construction loans arranged through the same man, Gregory Majeroff, who owned Cascade.

When she refused to repay her loan because of the shoddy work she was threatened with foreclosure on her home. That forced Schofield and other homeowners to go to court, where they gained a preliminary injunction against the foreclosures.

Although the bill contains a clause designed to prevent foreclosures against Cascade's former customers, Schofield said she knows of at least one homeowner who could still lose his home because his loan was purchased by an individual not covered by the injunction.

"I don't think this will guarantee that we will win in court," said Schofield, who testified for SB216 before the Legislature. "It will still take a long, drawn out jury trial before the judge can see the forest for the trees."

The original intent of the bill was to prevent pool contractors from also being involved in the construction loans, as was the case with Majeroff, who also owned an unlicensed finance company. But state Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, a co-sponsor of the bill along with Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, said the legislation was butchered when it reached the Assembly.

It was in the Assembly that swimming pool companies mounted strong opposition to SB216. Steve Holloway, executive vice president of Associated General Contractors in Las Vegas, called the legislation unfair because it targeted a specific industry. He said the increased regulations could drive up the price of swimming pools.

"We do not feel that it is necessary to single out an industry because of one or two bad apples," Holloway said. "There are sufficient laws to take care of those bad apples. This imposes a severe financial burden on swimming pool companies, particularly the small contractor."

Through compromise the bill was amended so that pool contractors could still lend money for their own projects as long as the customer agreed to the terms and federal Truth in Lending laws were followed.

"This bill could have easily died in the Assembly, so at that point you have to lighten the ballast," Care said.

He said there are still things consumers will like about the bill, such as a requirement that contractors make fuller disclosures to consumers.

"I didn't get everything I wanted, but I'll take what I got," Care said. "My argument was that as a matter of public policy, given all the problems with pools in Southern Nevada, it would have been better to not allow pool contractors to finance pools."

Margi Grein, executive officer of the state Contractors Board, said she is also satisfied with SB216, which was the board's top legislative priority this year. Even though Nevada's 133 pool contractors comprise only slightly more than 1 percent of all licensed builders in the state, they generated 22 percent of the consumer complaints the board received last year, Grein said.

"I believe it gives us additional tools to go after unscrupulous pool contractors," Grein said. "I don't think you can write a perfect bill to stop it completely, but this is a start. The same things we have adopted as regulations would now be part of the law, and it will make it easier for us to spot violators."