Murrells Inlet pool company accused of taking thousands from families, not building pools

MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (WMBF) - A dozen Grand Strand families claim they’ve been left in the dark and robbed of tens of thousands of dollars by a Grand Strand pool contractor.

A civil lawsuit against Sun Pools of Murrells Inlet lists out 12 Horry and Georgetown families who paid the company to build their pools, but claim the company didn’t complete or even start the project.

WMBF Investigates spoke with all 12 homeowners who said they all signed contracts with Sun Pools, and still claim they have no idea where their money went.

Steve Naun said he signed his initial contract with Sun Pools in October of 2022.

The contract states he would have his pool completed by February of 2023, but he says that never happened.

“It’s just a very thing to go through and poorly represented by the company. They still owe us quite a bit of money,” Naun explained.

Angie and Steven Hutchinson said they also had the same timeline for their pool as Naun, but stated, no one ever showed up to their house to start construction for their dream pool.

“They took the money. They never did anything,” Steven Hutchinson said.

The Hutchinson’s made the call to police that led to the arrest of the owners of Sun Pools, Jeffery and Emilie Haas in September for two counts of breach of trust with fraudulent intent.

Then, in December, the pair were back behind bars again facing the same charge.

A police report states they were hired to install a pool, but never even started the work or paid back the client.

The attorney representing the Haas’ in the civil lawsuit, Tom Winslow, blames the economy and high prices as to why Naun and other families never got their pools or money back.

“We’ve sent out an opportunity to resolve this case with everybody,” Winslow said. “A paid and full option that they can choose to take or not.”

That ‘solution’ was sent in an email by Winslow offering clients a payback plan of $1,000 a month if Sun Pools has the money at all.

Harley Schwarz said he was lucky to get his pool but could have never seen anything like this coming.

“You go to the company, and you just expect to get a pool installed,” Schwarz said. “Didn’t expect this at all and we could have been on the hunt for tens of thousands of dollars, on top of what we already paid for.”

Their criminal defense attorney, Casey Brown sent WMBF News a statement about the ongoing case.

“We appreciate the cooperation of everyone involved and we look forward to our continued efforts to reach a satisfactory resolution for all parties,” Brown said.

Records show both Jeffery and Emilie Haas have bonded out of jail.

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