TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's office filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a pool builder and its principals for allegedly violating Florida's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Nationwide Pools Inc., Nationwide Pools of Dade Inc., Nationwide Pools of W. Palm Beach Inc., Nationwide Pools Gulf Coast Inc. and Keith Stuart, the owner of Nationwide Pools Inc., allegedly used a variety of deceptive and false marketing practices related to the construction and sale of pools. Lynn Stewart and Felicia Mallia also were named as defendants in the lawsuit.
"Floridians should be able to trust the companies they do business with, and they should receive the services advertised or promised," Bondi said. "We will continue to protect Florida's consumers by enforcing Florida's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act."
Nationwide Pools Inc. and Stuart allegedly failed to pay subcontractors which caused liens to be placed on the homes of consumers, made misrepresentations regarding manufacturer warranties and rebates, made misrepresentations related to pool financing, charged illegal credit card fees and failed to complete the construction of pools.
Bondi's lawsuit seeks permanent injunctive relief to ban the company, its owners and its managers from the future construction of pools. The lawsuit also seeks consumer restitution.
Fla. AG files lawsuit against pool builder
