Aaron Stanger, 37, owner of Premier Pools and Spas, of Omaha, Nebraska, was arrested on November 29 after turning himself in to the Douglas County Sheriff’s office, where he faced a warrant for seven counts of theft by deception.
The pool builder spent two nights in jail before a judge set his bond at $2 million, meaning he would have to come up with $200,000 to get out.
Stanger is facing 17 civil lawsuits, including one filed earlier in November from Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers.
According to a press release from Hilgers’ office, “Premier Pools has extracted large sums of money by deceiving Nebraska homeowners and sought to unlawfully stifle consumer complaints. The company's brazen pattern of deceptive and unfair business practices has left Nebraska homeowners with dangerous, ugly, unfinished pits in their yards and without the refund or return of the significant sums paid to Premier Pools.”
Court documents allege that Premier Pools routinely collected 95 percent of the total cost of each project — 45 percent at the contract signing and 50 percent at the excavation — after which the company failed to do any more work.
“Premier Pools has repeatedly taken sums between $76,000 to $133,000 from consumers based on deceptive representations and without the intent to deliver on its promises,” the AG’s complaint states.
In addition, Premier Pools contract includes an illegal gag clause that states: “Prior to Client posting or engaging in any social media review or seeking assistance from the Better Business Bureau, Company shall be notified of intent and given the opportunity to remedy any situation.
If the situation cannot be mutually resolved or a review posted or the BBB contacted without Company notification, this agreement will be terminated by notice of Company.”
The Attorney General’s office accuses Premier Pools of a litany of troubling practices including:
• Deceptive Payment Scheme.
• Misleading Marketing.
• Unsafe Neglect.
• Refund Refusal.
• Gagging Consumers. Following an October investigation by a local news channel, Stanger issued a statement that said since the pandemic, factors beyond the company’s control have resulted in delays to the completion of projects. More recently, Stanger wrote, the weather, labor shortages, and subcontractor problems have also contributed to delays.
