A Lenawee County well and pump business is out of the trade for good after a court sided with the state in a lawsuit over drilling wells without the required registration, according to the Michigan Attorney General's office (via Michigan Department of Attorney General).
Judge Anna Marie Anzalone of the 39th Circuit Court in Lenawee County entered the judgment Oct. 12 against Boss's Pump & Well Service LLC and its owner, Chadwick Boss. The order bars Boss from drilling wells, installing pumps or advertising either service. It also orders the company's related web pages taken down, lets the state seize its well drilling and pump installation equipment, and dissolves the LLC.
Boss was ordered to refund the 10 consumers named in the lawsuit and to pay a $75,000 civil fine for what the AG's office called "persistent and knowing" violations of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. The release didn't give a dollar figure for the refunds.
Attorney General Dana Nessel's office filed the case in May, working with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), which registers well drillers and pump installers. The lawsuit claimed violations of both the Consumer Protection Act and Part 127 of the state Public Health Code, the section that governs water well construction.
According to the complaint and the AG's earlier announcements, the company was never registered to drill wells but did at least five well drilling jobs in 2024 and 2025. Its pump installer registration expired April 30, 2025, and the state says it kept doing pump work after that. The lawsuit also alleged the company left jobs unfinished or damaged property, didn't refund customers, recommended repairs that weren't needed and, in at least one documented case, sold a used pump as new. Customers in Lenawee, Jackson, Washtenaw, Monroe and Hillsdale counties were affected, and some paid thousands more to have a registered driller finish the work, the AG's office said in July.
Regulators had already tried to stop it. EGLE sent a cease-and-desist letter on May 16, 2025, and the Lenawee and Jackson county health departments sent their own violation notices. The state says the company kept advertising well drilling anyway. A judge granted a preliminary injunction in July halting the work while the case was pending.
"In my office, we don't hesitate to act against businesses that abuse consumer trust, flout licensing and registration requirements, and endanger their customers' health," Nessel said in the release.
EGLE Director Phil Roos said improper well construction "puts our health and environment at risk."
Under Part 127, anyone who drills water wells or installs well pumps in Michigan has to be registered with EGLE. Registration takes experience and an exam, and registrations expire every April 30. EGLE's rules say a contractor who hasn't renewed by May 1 can't do any well drilling or pump installation until they do (EGLE).
Every county also requires a permit before a new well is drilled or major repairs are made, and the owner should get a well record within 60 days of the work, according to EGLE's guide to hiring a well contractor. EGLE keeps a searchable directory of registered contractors, and the AG's office pointed consumers to it.
Anyone with a complaint can reach the AG's Consumer Protection team at 517-335-7622 or file online through the AG's website. Code violations on a well go to the local health department.
Why it matters for Contractors
If you build or remodel in rural Michigan, the well is often a sub you don't control but still own on the schedule. Before you hand that work to anyone, ask for a current EGLE registration certificate and check the name in EGLE's online directory. Check again in the spring, since registrations lapse every April 30 and a lapsed sub can't legally touch a well or pump.
Make sure the county well permit is pulled and that you or the owner get the well record afterward. It's cheap insurance against a job that has to be torn out and redone.
For registered drillers and pump installers, this case shows the state will go to court, seize equipment and dissolve a company that keeps working after warnings. Keeping your registration current and your ads honest is the easy part of staying on the right side of it.