A growing group of North Texas homeowners is alleging they were left with unfinished pools after paying Bright Pools, LLC, tens of thousands of dollars for construction.
Ellis County homeowner Kim Hortman said she hired the company in January to build a pool in her backyard, but after the project started, work slowed and eventually stalled.
Unfinished poolKim Hortman
While Hortman's pool is mostly complete, she said she later discovered a subcontractor had placed a lien on her property, alleging the subcontractor had not been paid for work Hortman said she had already paid Bright Pools to complete.
That prompted Hortman to begin contacting other customers.
“Every day I get a message from someone new that I haven't heard from that says, ‘Hey, I saw your post. I'm in the same position,’” she said.
Hortman estimates at least 30 homeowners across the Dallas-Fort Worth area may have unfinished pool projects, although she said the number could be higher as more people come forward.
“The phone number that we had for him has been disconnected, so we don't exactly know his location or what he's doing, but we do know that as of, I believe it was July 11th, he was still taking jobs and taking people's money,” she said.
Hortman said homeowners have reported paying between $60,000 and $100,000, depending on their individual projects. Some allegedly have partially constructed pools, with holes dug and rebar or other materials left in place. Others allegedly had more work completed but said their projects remain unfinished.
Some customer comments on the company’s Google review do show completed pools and satisfaction about Bright Pools’ work.
Hortman said the problems appear to extend beyond Ellis County and Midlothian, where Bright Pools’ office is located. She said homeowners from Denton and Dallas Counties, and other parts of the metroplex have contacted her with similar allegations.
“We just honestly cannot believe that there are this many people affected,” she said. “We thought it was just a few of us and it turned into a very large group of people.”
Some subcontractors have also reached out, Hortman said, alleging they are owed money for work completed on customers' pools.
According to Hortman, customers are now gathering information and considering whether they have grounds to pursue civil or criminal action against the company and its owner, Justin Bright.
Kim Hortman
The homeowners' immediate goals, she said, are to recover money they believe they are owed, have liens removed from their properties, and ensure subcontractors are paid.
Hortman said some customers had positive experiences with Bright Pools in previous years, but she believes the company's business practices began changing within the past year or two.
KRLD reached out multiple times to Bright Pools, LLC, and its owner for comment but did not receive a response. We learned that sometime this week, Bright Pools' website was seemingly taken down. The company's phone has also been disconnected, although we're unsure of when that might have happened.
In an attempt to reach Justin Bright, we contacted another company with a similar name, Brighter Pool Services, in which owner Matt Bassett said Bright was a partial owner in the company, but has since cut ties. While Brighter Pool Services used to do service work for Bright Pools, Bassett also said Bright has zero ownership in Brighter Pool Services.
The allegations made by Hortman and other homeowners have not been proven.
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