By Milt Harris ——Bio and Archives--January 5, 2024
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I have lost a lot of things in my life as I’m sure you have. I would say the at top of the list would be my keys, followed by my phone, lists that I’ve made, pencils or pens, and in more recent years my glasses. Truth be told, on very rare occasions I have not paid attention to where I parked and when coming out of the store (usually Costco) I’ve been forced to look for my car.
One of the things on my list that I’ve never lost is my driveway. In fact, I’ve never even thought about losing my driveway. Losing your driveway is like losing your forehead, It just doesn’t happen. So, imagine yourself coming home from work and turning into your, …. Ooops.
Amanda Brochu can relate. Recently she went to work and when she returned home, she found her driveway had been stolen. Can’t you just hear that call to the police?
“Hello, police headquarters, what can we do for you?” “I’d like to report a robbery.” “Yes ma’am, is the perpetrator still there?” “No.” “Can you tell me what was taken?” “Yes, my damn driveway.” “Excuse me, did you say your driveway?” “Yes, my driveway is gone.” “Give me your address, we’ll send someone out to investigate.”
Upon further review, the driveway wasn’t stolen, … sort of. It seems that a fraudulent contractor was involved. As WFTV-TV, reported, the whole thing started when Brochu put her home on the market in early December. She hired some contractors to do some minor work on the place just to make it more appealing for buyers. However, shortly thereafter, contractors began showing up and taking measurements for a project she did not want done, specifically a new driveway.
When Brochu confronted one of the contractors, she was told that someone named “Andre” had ordered the work to be done. Andre had informed the contractor that he was Brochu’s landlord. The contractor even showed Brochu the text messages from “Andre,” showing that he had agreed on a price of $7,200 to replace the driveway. “Red Flag,” When the contractor became suspicious and demanded proof of ownership of the property, "Andre" cut off communication.
Hearing this, Brochu called the police. The police confronted the mysterious “Andre,” who claimed that it was nothing more than a misunderstanding involving an incorrect address and that nothing else would happen on Brochu’s property.
Yet, a week later Brochu returned home to find nothing more than a dirt track leading to her house.
Frustrated, Brochu reached out to the local media and the story was so strange it garnered significant attention. It was then that a general contractor contacted WFTV and explained that the theft was probably the result of an overpayment scam used by scammers to target unsuspecting contractors.
Here’s how the scam works. The scammer pours through home listing sites like Zillow. When they spot a specific type of home for sale, they contact an unlicensed contractor and ask for a bid on some work that hasn’t been requested, the work is always on the exterior of the house.
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Then once the scammer and the contractor agree on a price, the scammer sends a check to the contractor that is for more than the agreed upon price. Then claiming a mistake, the scammer asks the contractor to refund him the difference in the agreed upon price and the check.
The contractor usually always agrees, and then at some time the scammers check bounces, which leaves the contractor in the lurch. In this case, after removing the old driveway the contractor decided to not pour the new one until funding was received.
Florida investigators don’t have many leads, since the scammer used burner phones and fake names. Still, there is a happy ending. A Cox Media Group offered to replace Brochu's driveway for free after her story made such an impact on the local news. However, many homeowners are not so lucky. Brochu set up a GoFundMe to help defray her costs, but now promises to donate the money she collected to a local charity.
There are many lessons in this story, not just for homeowners, but also for contractors. Verify, Verify, Verify, before you agree to anything, and especially before you pay for anything.
Hats off to Cox Media Group for stepping up to help Amanda, and everyone else that contributed to help her out.
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Milt spent thirty years as a sales and operations manager for an international manufacturing company. He is also a four-time published author on a variety of subjects. Now, he spends most of his time researching and writing about conservative politics and liberal folly.