Elderly couple loses thousands on driveway work

An elderly New Hanover County couple just spent thousands of dollars to get a new driveway, but halfway through the job their contractor raised the price. When the home owners wouldn't pay up, they say the contractor tore up their front yard. It's a project they've been meaning to do for years. So when a man showed up at Vernon and Ollene Stokes's New Hanover County home, offering to put in a new driveway, they hired him. It's a decision they now regret. "Personally, I don't think he ever intended to finish it," Vernon Stokes said.Vernon paid Clinton Reany a $2,000 deposit to cover the cost of cement. Reany started digging up the yard the very next day, and collected the rest of his money. But weeks later there'd been very little progress on the driveway. "It was dangerous," Stokes said. "I have a little bit of trouble walking, and if it had been tore up for two or three days, that would have been one thing, but not for months." Mr. Stokes had already taken a spill on the rough pavement when Reany tried to raise the price for finishing the job. "He said he had not charged us enough money. He had underestimated, and unless we paid him $500 more, he wasn't doing any more," Ollene Stokes said.The Stokes refused to give Reany another penny, and that's when things really got ugly. As Vernon stood by with a camera, Clinton Reany started digging up the wet cement before taking off for good. Clinton Rainy left a mess in the Stokes's front yard. They haven't even been able to use their carport for the last two months. The Stokes are taking Reany to court and found out they're not the only ones suing him for the exact same thing. Even if they don't get their money back they want to give other local homeowners a heads up. The Stokes are having to pay another paving company to make their driveway usable again. Paying to have the job done right will cost them an addition $4,400.