“It’s a bumpy road, alright,” Kimber Mullen said.
Kimber is talking about more than the condition of her Valley Center home’s driveway.
“It’s gradual and then, all of a sudden, you’re like I’ve been had,” Kimber said, “I’ve been scammed.”
Kimber said it all started with a knock on the door in October 2016. That’s when a man named Nikko Stanley introduced himself and his company Expert Asphalt.
“I run a paving company and I’m in the area, just finished a job at a neighbor’s house and I have extra material, can I redo your driveway?” Kimber said the pitch went.
Kimber said Stanley convinced her and her husband to shell out $4,000 to fix their badly damaged driveway. Kimber said she paid him with two checks and never saw him again.
“Wednesday became Friday, Friday became Monday, Monday became Wednesday and this went on for a week and a half,” Kimber said.
Local
Harry McKinlay said he has heard that tune before. He said he paid Nikko Stanley $800 for driveway repairs that never happened.
To read more about Harry’s story, click here.
Kimber took Nikko to small claims court last year and in February, after Stanley didn’t show up in court, a judge awarded Kimber $4,000, the total amount she paid Stanley, plus $110 for court costs.
Kimber and Harry are not alone. NBC 7 Responds learned earlier this year, Stanley pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in connection with a similar asphalt scheme involving two other people.
Rosalee Burrell, the prosecutor in Stanley’s case, confirmed a judge ordered Stanley to three-years probation along with fines and restitution payments to two other victims.
To read the criminal complaint against Stanley, click here.
In an email, Burrell told NBC 7 Responds that as of Wednesday, no restitution payments have been made by Stanley. Kimber told NBC 7 Responds Stanley has not made any payments toward the amount she was awarded in small claims court.
NBC 7 Responds has tried contacting Stanley but phone numbers he gave his victims along with phone numbers he gave the courts are disconnected.
According to the state contractor’s board, Stanley has never had a contractor’s license.
Kimber said she’s learned a valuable lesson.
“Make sure they’re licensed, don’t give them any money upfront and look them up on the internet,” Kimber said.
To learn more about what to research before hiring a licensed contractor or to verify a contractor’s state license, click here.
