JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Embattled pool contractor Jordan Hidalgo, the owner of Staycation Pools & Spas, has had his $1.9 million judgment reduced to just $60,000, following a settlement with the Florida Attorney General’s Office.
The settlement was agreed to in July of 2024, according to court records filed earlier this week.
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More than a dozen Jacksonville-area homeowners accused Hidalgo of abandoning their pool projects in 2023. The attorney general’s lawsuit came after numerous ITEAM investigations into the company and its owners.
According to the lawsuit, nearly 100 consumers came forward with similar complaints, detailing financial losses, incomplete projects, and mismanagement by Hidalgo’s companies.
Initially, the court ordered financial judgments against Hidalgo and his companies, totaling $1,943,285, broken down as follows:
- $1,390,006 against Staycation Pools & Hidalgo
- $363,751 against Modern Pools & Hidalgo
- $189,528 against West Bay Pools & Hidalgo
However, records show that his financial inability to pay was considered, reducing his required payment to $60,000. The remaining balance is suspended, as long as he complies with all court-ordered terms.
Customers like Ashley Kennedy, who invested in a pool from Staycation Pools, were hopeful the Attorney General’s lawsuit would lead to a harsher punishment. Instead, Kennedy says the settlement is “disgusting.”
Related: News4JAX I-TEAM talks to more unhappy Staycation Pools & Spa customers
“It seriously makes me sick to my stomach,” Kennedy said. “$60,000 doesn’t even really cover the cost that I personally lost with them. I can only imagine how all of us feel that were listed on the DBPR complaint—that had 78 of us—and that’s not even listing all the other people affected up and down Florida.”
As part of the final court ruling, Hidalgo and his companies are now permanently banned from operating in Florida’s pool construction industry.
However, if Hidalgo violates the settlement terms, the full $1.9 million judgment will become due.
Meanwhile, the case remains open against Douglas Griffith, another defendant in the lawsuit who was involved in managing Hidalgo’s pool companies.