TAMPA BAY, Fla. — The 2021 collapse of Olympus Pools, one of Florida’s largest custom pool builders, left hundreds of homeowners with half-finished projects in their backyards.
The company’s closure stuck Pasco County homeowner Kelley Berens and her family with a muddy mess she described as "just a dirt cement hole with mud and sludge in it.”
The only thing Olympus customer Robin Maltenfort had to show for her $25,000, and year-long-wait, was a dirt pit.
Many former customers, including Cristina Mooney, hired and paid other contractors to finish their pools.
“We had to put the permit in our name and contract all the subcontractors to get them out to complete,” she told ABC Action News. The Mooney’s estimate they paid an additional $45,000 over and above their contracted price to get the pool finished.
Former Olympus customers who lost money could be eligible for compensation under the Florida Homeowners Construction Recovery Fund. The fund provides, "payment, up to a limited amount, may be available from the Florida Homeowners’ Construction Recovery Fund if you lose money on a project performed under contract, where the loss results from specified violations of Florida law by a licensed contractor.”
According to state records, 68 Olympus pool victims filed claims in the last 12 months. 33 of them including Berens, Maltenfort and Mooney applied for the fund between last December and January. Berens said six months later the state asked her for documents she’d already submitted.
“The status of my case still says that it's under analyst review,” Berens told the I-team.
In September the I-team, in an email, asked the Department of Business and Professional regulation how many Olympus Pools claims had been paid. DBPR wrote back saying: "We have not paid any claims against James Staten yet." But 10 days after our inquiry, the state placed two of the claims on the recovery fund committee’s October agenda.
During that October committee meeting both Olympus customers, represented by an attorney, received the maximum payout of $15,000. In November, DBPR placed another dozen Olympus pool claims on the Recovery Fund Committee's agenda, and all were approved.
Olympus customer Pete Sessions was among the fortunate few awarded $15,000. But now Sessions, who hired an attorney to avoid having his claim denied because of something he may miss on the paperwork, will have to shell out 40% of his award.
“I know it is very hard to get around. I know a lot of people gave up,” Sessions said.
According to DBPR, the wait time depends on how quickly the staff can process the claim and how quickly claimants can respond to requests for documents that might be missing.
Berens, Mooney and others told the I-team the application process was difficult, requiring copies of court documents, bankruptcy information and an asset search.
The Mooneys gave up when the state asked for more information four months after they submitted their claim.
“Good luck filing it and good luck getting it," Mooney said.
The fund is capped at $150,000 per contractor license. James Staten held two licenses for a total payout of $300,000. Since October the fund approved 14 Olympus victims for about $205,000. The money likely will run out before the majority of claims — including Beren's — ever go before the committee.
The only way to increase the money in the fund is to hike up contractor permitting fees, a percentage of permitting fees that contractors pay local agencies go into the state's Recovery Fund.
Some Olympus Pools customers filed as creditors in Olympus President James Staten’s ongoing personal bankruptcy case. Those who are approved will likely collect pennies on the dollar in the form of a monthly dividend. Meanwhile, the Attorney General's office confirms its criminal investigation into 150 complaints against Staten is ongoing.
