AG Ellison announced that his Office has reached a settlement that requires an asphalt company that victimized consumers to dissolve and pay $100,000 to the State of Minnesota that the Attorney General’s Office will use for restitution to victims. The Attorney General’s Office alleges Minnesota resident Brandon Michael Ferguson and his business, Community Blacktop, LLC (which also went by the names of C. Blacktop LLC, Community Construction, LLC, Frontier Construction, and MVP Valued Paving & Engineering) victimized consumers in Minnesota and across the country, targeting the elderly in particular, by promising quality asphalt work at a discount, but delivering subpar results and subsequently demanding outrageously inflated prices multiple times in excess of what was initially quoted.

“No one should be the victim of these kinds of predatory and fraudulent business practices, particularly older Minnesotans. Scammers often use what are called high-pressure sales tactics to help them cheat honest people. One of the most common of these tactics is creating a false sense of urgency to make people accept an offer before they can look into it. These incidents underscore how important it is to take your time, think, and do your research before making big purchases. Talk to your friends and family, look up online reviews, and compare prices. And, as always, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” – AG Ellison