SCAM WARNING: WATCH PAVING CONTRACTORS

By Jon Mayhew

Law enforcement in the Charlotte region is warning residents – especially the elderly – that with Spring being around the corner, some less-than-reputable paving “contractors” are targeting residents.

Catawba County Sheriff’s Office chief Coy Reid said the scammers aren’t necessarily based in North Carolina.

“Many of these paver groups are based in adjoining states,” said Reid. “Others are local. As the weather warms, they begin their travels throughout the country, often hitting their North Carolina neighbors first.”

Reid said the scam begins when the “contractors” approach older home owners and claim they have paving material left over from another job in the neighborhood and that they will pave the home owner’s driveway for a greatly reduced price.

“They can be both charming and pushy, sometimes beginning paving jobs before an older home owner can say ‘no,’” said Reid. “Their hallmarks tend to be smooth and persuasive sales techniques, new equipment, shoddy and overpriced work, and quick disappearances from the community once they have struck.”

While no local cases have been reported, an 85-year-old man living near Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base in Wake County was scammed by these so-called “pavers,” according to Reid.

In addition to possible charges under local ordinances or the False Pretenses Act, local law enforcement officials have made good use of the failure to give right to cancel in off-premises sales ordinance when addressing these groups.

The “pavers” normally fail to advise homeowners that they have three days to consider and cancel the transaction and they begin work immediately, which violates that provision of the criminal code.

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