A couple who claim they were ripped off by a pool contractor sought forgiveness Thursday for $1,187 in deed compliance fines.
Robert and Molly Moore of the Village of DeSoto took their appeal before the Community Development District 12 Board of Supervisors in a meeting at Everglades Recreation Center.
They purchased their home in 2021 at 2509 Lock St. for $400,000. They wanted to add a swimming pool and hired David Chauncey Lapp of Sparkling Waters Pool and Spa Services in The Villages.
The Moores said Lapp ripped them off to the tune of $40,000. He also shut off their irrigation system and set in motion an unfortunate set of circumstances.
First the couple’s lawn died for lack of water. Then a complaint was filed and Community Standards came knocking. The couple, newbies to The Villages, scrambled to address the problem and attempted to stay within the mandated watering limits. Photos introduced at a previous deed compliance hearing showed huge brown patches in the Moores’ lawn.
“We were watering as much as The Villages would let us water,” Molly Moore said at the appeal hearing. “We were watering, watering, watering.”
The couple finally got the lawn back in shape, but did not know they had to contact Community Standards to indicate they were back in compliance. The fines began to add up, even as the couple was unaware and the balance soon topped $1,000.
This summer, they were called before a hearing officer, Retired Judge Terry Neal. She imposed $1,187 in fines.
Matt Armstrong of Resident Services said the couple had been extremely cooperative and clearly wanted to get their property back into compliance.
Supervisors were sympathetic to the couple’s plight and agreed to forgive the fines.
The couple reported their pool problem to Seniors vs. Crime. A representative of Seniors vs. Crime acknowledged that the consumer outreach arm of the attorney general’s office is investigating complaints of Lapp’s pool company.
Steve Renico, regional director for Seniors vs. Crime, encourages Villagers and other area residents to check with Seniors vs. Crime before hiring pool contractors or other vendors. Learn more at this link: https://www.svcinthevillages.org/
Lapp was arrested in 2018 in a drunken incident at a restaurant in The Villages. At the time, he was on felony probation for cocaine possession. He is also being sued in Lake County Court for breach of contract.
