- Have you checked whether your driveway is still in your yard?
We’ve all heard of porch pirates — thieves who snatch up unattended deliveries from people’s porches and driveways. But what if the pirate had something bigger in their sights?
Perhaps the driveway under the package?
You might chuckle at the idea of someone stealing a driveway, and the thought indeed sounds ridiculous. But Amanda Brochu is not laughing.
In early December, the Apoka, Florida, resident put her house on sale. As part of her preparations, she had a few contractors come by to work on the house.
With the contractors coming and going, no one paid attention to a bunch of workers who shouldn’t be there. When Brochu returned home from work one day, her driveway was gone.
Somebody had ripped up the pavement and left a muddy trail in its place.
It turns out Brochu and an unwitting contractor had fallen for what is known as an overpayment scam. Through a series of deceptive tricks, the scammer “paid” too much for a contractor to rip up Brochu’s driveway and then asked for the “overpaid” amount to be returned.
The missing driveway threatened to ruin the value of Brochu’s house, putting her future in jeopardy. Fortunately, she’s getting help. After her story broke, a sponsor of a local radio station offered to repair Brochu’s driveway free of charge.
We suppose the lesson here is that it doesn’t matter what it is or if it’s nailed down — someone will try to steal it.
Andre Who?
Brochu’s ordeal began in early December. The single mother put the house in which she and her son live up for sale.
To boost the house’s value, she opted to have some basic renovations done. Contractors replaced the home’s aging roof and repaired some more worn parts here and there.
In addition, the house has no HOA and a fenced backyard. No wonder, then, that Brochu’s real estate agent Rocki Sanchez listed the home for a decent bit of cash.
Soon, however, strange things started happening. Brochu’s son told her that five different contractors had shown up to measure the home’s driveway within just a few days.
Brochu was suspicious as she’d asked no one to work on the driveway. When yet another company showed up, Brochu approached them and was told a man called “Andre” had asked the contractor for a quote on a driveway replacement.
Andre was supposedly Brochu’s landlord, which everyone involved found weird as Brochu owned the home. The contractor called this Andre, who claimed he’d made an embarrassing mistake with the address.
Yet, the contractor wasn’t convinced, especially as Andre had said he couldn’t make a deposit payment in person. When the contractor demanded up-front payment and proof of ownership of the house, Andre promptly cut all communication.
‘Never Seen This Before’
That’s the end of the story, right? Nope — it seems Andre found someone else to do his dirty work for him.
When Brochu returned home from work one day, she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“I come home and my driveway is gone,” Brochu summarized to WFTV9.
Brochu’s real estate agent Sanchez was equally shocked to find out about the incident.
“I’ve never seen this before. I’ve never had this happen to myself or anyone in our office,” Sanchez exclaimed.
Digging into the incident through various realtor and contractor groups, Sanchez figured out that Brochu and the unknown contractor who removed the driveway had likely fallen victim to what’s called an overpayment scam.
The scammer contacts a contractor — often an inexperienced and/or unlicensed one — and asks them to perform work on a house they don’t own. When it’s time to pay, the scammer sends the contractor a fake check written for a larger sum than agreed on in the initial quote.
They’ll then contact the contractor and explain the “mistake,” asking for the contractor to return the overpaid amount. The contractor often agrees, but will quickly find out afterward that their “customer’s” check has bounced.
In the end, the contractor loses money, time, and resources. The unwitting homeowner, such as Brochu, meanwhile might lose their driveway, roof, or more.
Help From Locals
With her driveway gone, Brochu found herself in a difficult situation. She had already signed a contract to purchase her new home, which she had intended to pay for with the money from selling her current house.
But let’s be real here — would you buy a home with a torn-up, missing driveway?
“No one’s going to buy this. This brings down the property now and that just messes it up for me and my family,” Brochu lamented.
Replacing the driveway would cost about $10,000 according to the most affordable quote Brochu found. In a desperate effort, Brochu and Sanchez set up a GoFundMe account to try and come up with the money.
Luckily for them, Brochu’s bizarre story became big local news. The buzz caught the attention of a local radio station’s sponsor, which offered to repair Brochu’s driveway — for free, no catch.
Paperwork for the construction permit is still pending. If everything works out fine, though, Brochu plans to donate the money from her GoFundMe campaign to a charity helping struggling families.
The funny thing is, the cops actually called Andre again after Brochu’s driveway disappeared and the man picked up. He, however, claimed to have nothing to do with the matter and hung up.
He did give the police the number for the supposed contractor who ripped out Brochu’s driveway. When the cops called it, though, they got connected with the Orlando International Airport’s customer service.
It’s unlikely “Andre” will ever face justice. At least it seems Brochu is getting her driveway back — and new pavement might just bump up her home’s value a little bit more.