Home Ownership Centers of America

Tell us As a result of the size of the pool, state, federal, county and municipal regulations had to be followed. The contract included a clause that required the owner to bear the cost of fulfilling the governmental requirements. In an effort to carry out the home owner’s wishes, and... with his knowledge and approval, Mr. D hired an engineer (**). Home owner instructed the [redacted] to plot the entire property for regrading beyond the pool area. Home owner requested a massive patio surrounding a large pool. The [redacted] was required to plan any solutions to any grading and water issues that were caused by the change in the topography of the property. The governing authorities required changes to the original plan based on the homeowner’s request for a large pool and patio which significantly affected the topography and water drainage because such changes would adversely affect the surrounding neighbors. The [redacted] performed the following services: 1) surveyed the land, 2) drafted a site plan indicating the various water and soil (grading) requirement regarding the installation of the pool selected and its large surrounding patio, 3) reviewed the applicable zoning rules, regulations and codes to abide by those requirements when drafting the technical drawing for submission to [redacted] Township, 4) participated in numerous emails and phone conversations with Mr. D regarding the preparation of the proposed technical plan. The point is both he and Mr. D have performed a great deal of work and expended a great deal of time in moving toward satisfying any federal, state, county and municipal requirements as determined by any applicable, federal, state and municipal law, ordinances or regulations. To meet the requirements of the above mentioned authorities, the following things were required: 1) Soil import $25,000.002) Hydro seed $ 3,500.003) Drain retention trench $14,000.004) Well point $ 3,500.005) Yard drains $ 2,500.006) Tree stumps $ 2,500.007) Electrical service panel $ 1,500.00 In addition to these mandatory requirements and expenses, there are additional expenses with respect to permits from the [redacted] Soil Conservation District and the various code sections of the [redacted] Building Department. Mr. D acknowledges that you provided a $5,000.00 advance in connection with the anticipated pool installation. As you know, such a job as yours cannot be performed without the fulfillment of the appropriate federal, state, county and municipal regulations and or codes. Mr. D incurred expenses that exceeded the disputed deposit. He paid the engineer $1,000, paid his employee $1,000 for assisting in the taking of core samples, pursing permits and multiple trips (approximately 7 trips to [redacted] ), and expended approximately 28 hours and traveled 350 miles. In addition, attached to this letter is the **’s invoice that indicated a balance of $1,500.00 is due the **, Mr. [redacted] . That amount will be paid out of the remaining $3,000 leaving a balance of $1,500. Mr. D’ time has value, and in this case the value of the time and effort he has expended in connection with the contract exceeds the $1,500 balance. Finally, in an effort to save the contact, Mr. D reminded the homeowner that he would be willing to perform the contract as long as homeowner fulfilled the portion of the contract that required the homeowner to pay the additional expenses in relation to the State, County, Federal and Municipal laws. The homeowner was unwilling to pay the additional $52,500. The pool contract was approximately $81,520. Any additional expenses that were required by the State, County, Federal and Municipal laws were the responsibility of the homeowner. In the contract, the homeowner did not want to pay for the $52,000 to comply with the governmental requirements but wanted the contractor to pay for the changes that the governmental authorities required. Mr. D refused. why here...

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:Per the contract surveying fees were clearly statedAfter the contract was signed, fees were increased Understandably we rejected the $increase and in return we did not receive our depositPer D' letter the cost of the surveyor was more then originally stated but in return we did not receive a copy of the surveyors work and forfeited our whole depositFor that amount we received nothing and no service in returnPoor/no customer service and loss of monies for no service/work
Regards,
*** ***

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:In response to Mr D' claims, all work was to be performed per the contract, hydro seed included, cost for the engineer, leveling of the land for the pool etc.  Mr. D had seen our lot and presented a contract with costs.  When it turned out it would cost more he submitted extra costs e.g. $25,000 for dirt!!There certainly was discussion with the engineer regarding the pool, but no extra contract.  The contract we have with Mr.D stands, and, according to this he has billed us for work not done.  Despite the engineer completing the survey, it was not furnished to us and we had to engage another engineer for those services.  We got nothing for the money given to Mr. D and wish to end this mindless back and forth.  Please return our deposit!!
Regards,
[redacted]

Tell us As a result of the size of the pool, state, federal, county and municipal regulations had to be followed.  The contract included a clause that required the owner to bear the cost of fulfilling the governmental requirements.  In an effort to carry out the home owner’s wishes, and...

with his knowledge and approval, Mr. D hired an engineer (**).  Home owner instructed the ** to plot the entire property for regrading beyond the pool area.   Home owner requested a massive patio surrounding a large pool.  The ** was required to plan any solutions to any grading and water issues that were caused by the change in the topography of the property.  The governing authorities required changes to the original plan based on the homeowner’s request for a large pool and patio which significantly affected the topography and water drainage because such changes would adversely affect the surrounding neighbors.                The ** performed the following services: 1) surveyed the land, 2) drafted a site plan indicating the various water and soil (grading) requirement regarding the installation of the pool selected and its large surrounding patio, 3) reviewed the applicable zoning rules, regulations and codes to abide by those requirements when drafting the technical drawing for submission to [redacted] Township, 4) participated in numerous emails and phone conversations with Mr. D regarding the preparation of the proposed technical plan.  The point is both he and Mr. D have performed a great deal of work and expended a great deal of time in moving toward satisfying any federal, state, county and municipal requirements as determined by any applicable, federal, state and municipal law, ordinances or regulations.   To meet the requirements of the above mentioned authorities, the following things were required: 1) Soil import                     $25,000.002) Hydro seed                 $ 3,500.003) Drain retention trench         $14,000.004) Well point                $ 3,500.005) Yard drains               $ 2,500.006) Tree stumps               $ 2,500.007) Electrical service panel  $ 1,500.00 In addition to these mandatory requirements and expenses, there are additional expenses with respect to permits from the [redacted] Soil Conservation District and the various code sections of the [redacted] Building Department.   Mr. D acknowledges that you provided a $5,000.00 advance in connection with the anticipated pool installation.  As you know, such a job as yours cannot be performed without the fulfillment of the appropriate federal, state, county and municipal regulations and or codes.   Mr. D incurred expenses that exceeded the disputed deposit.  He paid the engineer $1,000, paid his employee $1,000 for assisting in the taking of core samples, pursing permits and multiple trips (approximately 7 trips to [redacted]), and expended approximately 28 hours and traveled 350 miles.  In addition, attached to this letter is the **’s invoice that indicated a balance of $1,500.00 is due the **, Mr. [redacted].  That amount will be paid out of the remaining $3,000 leaving a balance of $1,500.  Mr. D’ time has value, and in this case the value of the time and effort he has expended in connection with the contract exceeds the $1,500 balance.          Finally, in an effort to save the contact, Mr. D reminded the homeowner that he would be willing to perform the contract as long as homeowner fulfilled the portion of the contract that required the homeowner to pay the additional expenses in relation to the State, County, Federal and Municipal laws.  The homeowner was unwilling to pay the additional $52,500.   The pool contract was approximately $81,520.  Any additional expenses that were required by the State, County, Federal and Municipal laws were the responsibility of the homeowner.  In the contract, the homeowner did not want to pay for the $52,000 to comply with the governmental requirements but wanted the contractor to pay for the changes that the governmental authorities required.  Mr. D refused.  why here...

The contract stated that permits and government fees are home owners’ responsibility, including all increases in engineering due to state regulations.  The $55,000 cost were directly related to the size of the pool and large patio the homeowner requested.  These items when submitted to the township required extra remedial measures, additional soil, a retention pond and other water run off requirements because a great deal of the land would not be absorbing rain fall and precipitation.  These extras costs are the homeowners’ responsibility.  I could not perform the contract because the homeowner was unwilling to pay for the necessary work the governmental required regarding, soil, water and changes in soil coverage and runoff as these things affected the neighboring homeowners.   The contract was for pool installation not for re-modeling the yard to comply with governmental regulations.  Had the homeowners’ yard not presented these grading, water and topography issues, the contract would have been fulfilled for the contract price.    After taking core samples, making multiple trips to the home owners’ location, multiple trips to the municipal construction office, retaining an engineer that surveyed and drafted a detailed proposal that meet all county, municipal and state regulations, the homeowner did not go ahead with the project and said LGD Pool should pay the $55,000.  I will have the drawings forwarded to you since this is your first request for them in 8 months. The township, not LGD Pools, is responsible for all changes and increases to your contract. Tell us why here...

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Mr. D is correct in stating that permits and government fees are the responsibility of the homeowners, per the contract, and, as such his billing of time for these efforts are erroneous.  The additional costs stated ($55,000) were rejected and as such the contract was terminated.  Stated costs for the engineer, per the contract, were $1,000, overages were charged to us without our consent and permission.  Upon termination of the contract LGD Pools rebuffed our attempts at communication on multiple occasions and thus the surveyors report was not received/made available, forcing us to commission another engineer and survey report.  We are not interested in his **'s survey, just the return of our complete deposit due to the lack of any provided service.
Regards,
[redacted]

Tell us why her Initially, the contract was to engineer for a swimming pool not the entire property.  Since the homeowner insisted on a very large pool and surrounding patio rather than a modest patio, when the ** showed up, the homeowner and the ** discussed the project.  The homeowner directly asked the ** for additional work, i.e., survey the entire property regarding yard drainage and soil requirements. After several emails, texts and phone calls by LGD Pools and the engineer, communications made before, during and after the discovery of the additional expenses required by law, the homeowner simply insisted that I perform the pool installation, and the additional government required work (separate and apart from the contract) at the contracted price at LGD Pool’s expense.  LGD Pools installs pools.  The contract expressly stated that if the municipality or other governing authorities required additional work to meet its requirements, those costs are the responsibility of the homeowner.  The homeowner’s response to the warnings regarding the additional costs was to finish engineering.   Basically, you requested that the engineer and LDG Pools do all this work and then refuse to pay for it after you realized that having to perform and comply with all of the governmental requirements was going to cost an additional $50,000.  LDG Pools never contracted for drainage pipe and retention tanks or any of the other additional requirements regarding the massive size of the project that the homeowner requested. The homeowner could have purchased the smaller pool and deck, as was originally planned and discussed.  The engineer and LDG Pools performed work for the homeowner’s benefit.  There is value to that work and the results of the work.  The time, effort, the taking of core samples, the surveying, e-mailing, traveling are all things that have value.  The homeowner’s position that he wants his money back is odd since a great deal of work was performed.  It is not LDG that required the additional $50,000 expense but rather it was the legal and lawful requirements by the governing authorities. Once the homeowner knew of the additional expense, and that LDG Pools was not absorbing the expense, then the homeowner refused to move forward with the contract, and now wants money returned to him after a considerable amount of work was performed.  Had LDG Pools installed the pool and patio with compliance with the governing authorities, countless problems with the municipality would surely have arisen.  The initial contract was to install a pool and not to reconstruct the homeowner’s entire lot at the expense of LDG Pools.  It is the homeowner’s property, and the improvements are for his benefit not LGD Pools, therefore, it is only common sense that the homeowner bears the burden of the governmental authorities required work and related expenses.