Gansler
BALTIMORE (Legal Newsline) - Maryland Attorney Douglas Gansler announced on Wednesday that his Consumer Protection Division has issued a cease and desist order against an unlicensed Annapolis-based driveway paving contractor.
Tommy Edward Clack of Annapolis allegedly took tens of thousands of dollars from Maryland consumers by deceiving them about how much he was going to charge for work performed. The division alleges that Clack preyed on consumers, mostly seniors, by giving lowball estimates or refusing to provide estimates and then charging the consumers thousands to tens of thousands of dollars to pave their driveways.
"Consumers have a right to expect that they will not be charged exorbitant prices after receiving much lower estimates from a contractor," Gansler said. "When work is being done on your property, insist on having the contractor provide a written estimate on all work that will take place so you can guard against being duped."
In one alleged instance, Mr. Clack provided a verbal estimate of $4,000 to a consumer, but once the driveway was paved, he told the consumer the total price was $32,500.
In addition, Clack allegedly sold and performed driveway paving services without the required home improvement contractor and salesperson's licenses. He also allegedly violated the Maryland Door-to-Door Sales Act by failing to honor consumers' requests to cancel and failing to notify consumers of their cancellation rights.
The division ordered Mr. Clack to immediately cease and desist from offering and selling home improvement services unless he obtained the required licenses. Clack must post a bond or other cash security with the division in the amount of $50,000 to protect consumers. In addition, Clack has been ordered to reimburse all of the money he collected from consumers for the allegedly unlicensed driveway paving services he sold and performed. In pleadings accompanying the charges, the division identified six consumer victims who are owed a total of $66,600.
Clack, also known as Ed Clack or Tommy Clark, allegedly operated using the trade names County Asphalt, Maryland Asphalt and Maryland Asphalt Paving Company.