Arkansas' attorney general has filed a lawsuit Thursday that accuses a swimming pool company of stealing money from homeowners by promising to build a pool then leaving the work unfinished.
The complaint filed by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel in Pulaski County Circuit Court alleges that Aquatic Pools LLC and its owner, Glenn Yates, of Stillwell, Okla., have purportedly received tens of thousands of dollars from homeowners by leaving them "nothing more than an empty hole in their backyards."
One homeowner said he or she had paid the company in full for an in-ground pool installation that the business said would take four to six weeks to construct in March 2011, according to the complaint. The homeowner said the company excavated dirt for the installation but never returned to finish the project.
Another homeowner said he or she had given the company at least half of the money needed to build a pool, but the company completed only about 10 percent of the work. The complaint states the company would still press its customers for additional payments to finish the construction.
McDaniel has requested that the court require the pool company to pay restitution to homeowners and meet its customers' requests to cancel their contracts.
"This company and its owner have made excuse after excuse to Arkansas consumers," McDaniel said in a statement. "It seems they are good at keeping other people's money but bad at keeping their own promises."