LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – It all seemed simple enough to the Broadduses. Grandparents of three, a pool in their backyard just made sense.
What they didn’t expect was the nightmare the next six months created.
After putting down a deposit of $39,148.12 to cover half the cost, the couple expected work to start quickly. Bobby Broaddus said he even got the permits himself.
The contractor, Davenport Extreme Pools and Spas, made two visits late last June before the Broadduses signed a contract on June 27, Bobby Broaddus said.
But more than six months later there is no pool in the backyard – and no sign of construction even starting.
Their story isn’t unique. More than 20 families contacted WDRB News in recent weeks with the same complaint about Davenport: They paid tens of thousands of dollars to the company for a pool, work was never done and the company quit responding to its customers.
An attorney for Davenport maintains that the company still intends to build the pools.
Meanwhile, Davenport has filed for bankruptcy protection and at least 60 people are listed as creditors on a recent bankruptcy filing by the company.
“Their original date of install was late October,” Bobby Broaddus said. “Then it was moved to November, then late November, December, late December and the last correspondence was it was going to be a late-winter build.”
Annette and Bobby Broaddus (WDRB photo).
The company since has filed for federal bankruptcy protection, disconnected its publicly available phone number and removed its Facebook page. At least two lawsuits have been filed against Davenport and owner Tracy Davenport, alleging the company stopped responding after no work was done and attempting to get their deposits back.
“The fraud here is pretty massive,” said attorney Steve Pence, a former Kentucky lieutenant governor who is representing the families. “Dozens of people have called me about representing them. The scope of this scheme is far broader than you can imagine.”
But Davenport attorney Ken Henry rejects that claim and says that the company still plans on building the pools.
“There is no fraud here. Fraud requires intent. And there was no intent to defraud anyone,” Henry said. “Businesses have problems from time to time…businesses run into dry spells and have other issues. Costs go up, for example. There was never any intent on the part of Tracy Davenport or Davenport Extreme Pools and Spa incorporated to defraud anybody. These people who are going around saying these sorts of things are running the risk of being on the wrong side of these issues down the road.”
Henry said “there is a dispute as to whether the contracts were breached or not. That’s what the legal system is for,” Henry said. “Our position is that the contracts were not breached and that, in fact, by trying to rescind their contracts, the folks on the other side breached the contract.” The Broadduses said there were no red flags about Davenport Pools or, Tracy Davenport, at the start.
“They seemed like they knew what they were talking about, they were legit, everything seemed pretty good,” Annette Broaddus said. “We thought we did our due diligence in trying to check them out and looking at other people's pools and talking to people, seeing commercials. Everything sounded great, they sounded great, but didn't end up being that way.”
The Broadusses have not filed suit. But Mark Didat and another family took legal action in 2021. Didat said he signed a contract with the company in June 2021 and wrote a deposit check for $34,750, or 40% deposit of the cost. According to an email to Didat from Davenport included in the lawsuit, the pool was set to be installed by September. The pool still hasn’t been built.
In November 2021, Didat and another family sued Davenport to try and get the deposit money back after they said Davenport quit responding to questions about the project. Two other families joined the lawsuit last year.
In a separate lawsuit, a family claims that when they bought a home, they were assured the contract between Davenport and the former owners would be transferred. The deposit to Davenport was included in the purchase price. No work has been completed to install the pool, according to the suit.
Davenport Extreme Pools and Spa filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 21.
That allows Davenport to stay in business to remain in business while it creates a plan to pay people and businesses it owes money to.
Davenport lists 98 creditors. At least 60 are former customers; the rest are businesses or financial institutions.
A trustee overseeing the case has since requested that the case be converted to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, in which case Davenport would be required to begin liquidating assets.
In the meantime, the Broadduses are just hoping for the best outcome for everyone.
“Our hope for the whole group of victims, I guess you could say, is either finish the projects they started or refund the customers that want their money back and pay the price for what they’ve done,” Bobby Broaddus said.
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