Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is suing a former northern Ohio contractor and his company in Delaware County Common Pleas Court for allegedly abandoning swimming pool and pond projects, costing customers nearly $250,000.
The lawsuit, filed April 6, accuses former Ohio resident Storm D. Mills and Mills Water Management of violating the state’s Consumer Sales Practices Act and the Home Solicitation Sales Act, according to a news release from the Attorney General’s Office.
Five customers in Delaware, Hancock, Richland, Seneca and Wyandot counties lost a total of nearly $250,000 after hiring Mills for pool and pond projects that were never completed or even started, the release states.
Mills ran his business from his Seneca County home. In 2024, he relocated to Florida, where he has started a new swimming pool business, Yost’s office says.
“This guy skipped town and headed south, taking Ohioans’ money with him,” Yost said in the news release. “Floridians ought to take caution before diving into business with this scammer.”
One customer reported that Mills started their pond work, but never finished the project. Others said he performed no work at all, the lawsuit states.
Mills continued to enter into contracts and took payments from Ohio customers for pools and ponds even after leasing a residence in Florida and establishing his new business there, according to the lawsuit.
Five customers from Hancock, Richland, Seneca and Wyandot counties filed complaints with the Attorney General’s Office.
Yost’s office is seeking restitution, civil penalties and injunctive relief for the affected customers.
Delaware County and eastern Columbus suburbs reporter Maria DeVito can be reached at mdevito@dispatch.com and @mariadevito13.dispatch.com on Bluesky and @MariaDeVito13 on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio AG sues contractor for abandoned projects in Delaware, other counties
Reporting by Maria DeVito, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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