Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, STATE UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES NEWS—Ark. Cir.: Arkansas files action against pool company based on consumer complaints, (Jan 3, 2014)

By Jody Coultas, J.D.

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has filed a lawsuit under the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) against Aquatic Pools, LLC for failing to complete and provide promised services to consumers that had paid for in-ground swimming pools, retainer walls, and other related goods (State of Arkansas v. Aquatic Pools, LLC, January 2, 2014). The complaint was filed in the Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Arkansas.

In 2011, Aquatic Pools began marketing and selling in-ground pools to residents of the State of Arkansas, as well as advertising pool installation services. Aquatic Pools allegedly assured consumers that the services to be rendered would only take four to six weeks. However, after obtaining money from consumers, Aquatic Pools continually made excuses for work stoppages. In many cases, Aquatic Pools allegedly excavated the dirt necessary to install an in-ground pool, but essentially left large holes in a homeowner’s backyard. Aquatic Pools has not completed the projects contracted for with homeowners and has refused to provide refunds to homeowners that sought to cancel their contracts, according to the complaint.

After the Office of the Attorney General received numerous complaints of delayed performance and failure to complete installations from Arkansas homeowners, the Attorney General filed DTPA claims against Aquatic Pools. The DTPA prohibits businesses from knowingly making “a false representation as to the characteristics, uses, benefits … of goods or services,” and makes it unlawful to engage in unconscionable, false, or deceptive acts or practices in business, commerce, or trade. The complaint alleged that Aquatic Pools knowingly and falsely represented the timeframe in which a homeowner could expect the commencement and completion of the projects and never had the capacity, nor any reasonable expectation, that they would be able to complete the projects. Aquatic Pools also allegedly engaged in false and deceptive business practices.

The Attorney General sought an order to prevent the use or employment by Aquatic Pools from violating the DTPA and damages in the form of restitution or disgorgement of all sums obtained from Arkansas consumers by methods prohibited by Arkansas law. The Attorney General also sought to force Aquatic Pools to comply with requests from those consumers who wish to cancel their service, discontinue any further efforts to collect money from those consumers, withdraw any consumer accounts that have been referred to a collection agency, and remove any negative credit information from the consumer’s credit record. Damages of $10,000 per violation of the DTPA, attorney fees, and costs were also sought by the Attorney General.

The case is No. 60CV-14-9.

Attorneys: Bart W. Calhoun, Assistant Attorney General, for State of Arkansas.

News: StateUnfairTradePractices ArkansasNews