Annapolis paver issued cease and desist order by MD Attorney General

BALTIMORE - The Annapolis paver who backed out of a plea deal Tuesday has some even bigger legal battles on his hands.  The Maryland Attorney General issued a cease and desist order for Tommy Clack, a man ABC2 News has been telling you about for months.

Tommy Clack didn't say a word when we met face to face to find out more about the alleged paving scam the state says he's been running.  But the Annapolis business man now has to answer to someone else, the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division.  Deputy Chief Philip Ziperman says, "Our concern is that consumers were being harmed."

That concern is why Ziperman says the Attorney General’s office has filed a cease and desist order against Clack and his companies.  Under that order, he has to stop paving until he gets a contractor’s license.  He’ll also have to post a $50,000 bond to protect consumers in future work.  Ziperman says that’s not all, "Mr. Clack has, at this time, been ordered to return all of the money he took from consumers because he was selling these services without a license."

And so far the Attorney General’s office says he's racked up a $66,000 tab for work done for six victims the state says he deceived about the price he'd charge for paving. 

But the case will likely expand.  On Wednesday, the Maryland Home Improvement Commission told us they’re now investigating more cases, with the total at 20.  Those cases involve people who claim Clack showed up offering to roll their driveways at a discount but later charged them thousands more.  According to the Attorney General’s office, one victim was charged more than $30,000. 

Ziperman says the cease and desist order is designed to stop those experiences from happening to potential clients of Clack’s.  He explains, “Unless Mr. Clack gets a license, unless Mr. Clack complies with our order and unless Mr. Clack posts a bond with my agency, then what's not going to happen is he's not going to be paving any more driveways."

But aside from the court order, the legal troubles for Clack continue to build.  He faces a hearing on the order from the Attorney General in February.  But he’s also got criminal cases pending in Anne Arundel County.  As ABC2 reported, Clack backed out of a deal in those cases Tuesday afternoon.  But Clack has also now been charged criminally in Howard County as well. 

If you think you've been victimized by Tommy Clack, the Attorney General's office wants to hear from you.  You can contact their Consumer Protection office at 410-576-6569.