Omaha pool customer shocked after subcontractor files lien on unfinished pool

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - She says she paid Premier Pools and Spas about $110,000 for a pool left undone, so Charity Brumbaugh had to hire another contractor.

“I paid out an additional $80,000 to have it finished,” Charity said.

But now, Charity is shocked to learn a subcontractor’s lawyer isn’t being charitable with the homeowner’s money. He’s suing and slapping a lien on the Brumbaugh’s property, claiming Premier Pools and Spas didn’t pay an almost $18,000 bill.

“Any work that was done, they should have paid the subcontractors,” Brumbaugh said. “I shouldn’t be responsible for paying out to someone else again when I’ve already paid Premier.”

A Missouri pool subcontractor filed suits and liens on four Premier customers, but the attorney for two of those homeowners says it’s unfair to float that payment demand in court.

“One of the defenses to the lien is, ‘Well, we made full payment to the contractor so we can’t be forced into a double payment,’ which is essentially what would happen here,” said Attorney Jason Bruno.

Another Premier customer worries about a different kind of “lean.”

Though Nolan Cain says his covered porch support stands straight, the pool hole dug on July 25 is eroding.

“Because it’s been sitting here for so long and the rainfall that we’ve had, it’s just starting to slowly fall off and expose more and more of the footing,” Cain said.

Jared Matulka of Laguna Pools says he found a nightmare left unfinished in August. In just two months, he turned it into a dream pool that homeowner Angela Freund says she’s waited two years for.

“My neighbors are very appreciative too... because they’re tired of the hole and the mess,” Freund said.

Jared says his company has completed about half a dozen pool projects that were started by Premier.

“I think the main thing is they’ve had a hole in their backyard that’s dangerous and to have something just sitting there with dirt, sharp metal objects from the rebar, it’s not good for anybody,” Jared said.

That includes shoring up customer concerns about a backyard hazard.

Angela says last fall when Premier did little work on her pool, one of her neighbors’ playful dogs fell in a trench left open.

Three days later, she heard a noise and found the dog dehydrated inside the hole. A check of the security camera revealed what happened.

But since then, Laguna took over the project and the pool is almost finished and secure.

“It makes me very happy,” Freund said. “I’m super excited to see it come to fruition.”

After two years of stress, the homeowner says she is ready to relax.

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