Florida Woman Comes Home To Find A Part Of Her House Was Stolen

A Florida woman who's trying to sell her house recently came home in the middle of the day and found something most people would never expect to find - her driveway was STOLEN!

As the single mom was getting ready for the holidays and to move into a new home, she was faced with a really frustrating and almost unbelievable situation finding that someone came and took her driveway.

Amanda Brochu listed her Orlando-area house for sale with the hopes to move into a new home. While the home was listed, unsolicited contractors arrived to measure her driveway. Brochu told local station WSVN that she confronted one of the contractors who claimed a man named Andre hired them to give a price for a replacement driveway.

Text messages supplied by the contractor showed that Andre asked the contractors for an estimate at Brochu's address, but Andre was out of town when the contractor asked for an in-person meeting. Communication was then cut off when he was asked for proof of ownership. Brochu called the police.

"After the cops spoke to them, they called me back, and they said that he said it was a mistake, he just got the address wrong: nothing else will happen again," she told WSVN. But a week later, Brochu saw a bulldozer tearing out the concrete in her driveway on her doorbell camera.

The single mom said she just replaced the roof, as well as other investments, and doesn't have the $10,000 needed to replace the driveway so she can sell her home as planned.

"No one's gonna buy this," she said. "This brings down the property now, and that just messes it up for me and my family."

Brochu's real estate agent, Rocki Sanchez, said she's "never seen this before."

"I've never had this happen to myself or anyone in our office," Sanchez said. She shared the odd occurrence in a Facebook group for Realtors and said she believed this was some type of scam.

"I had multiple people come forward saying that they've seen things like this happen - whether it be driveways, roofs, painting, even outside the exterior," Sanchez said. "So it happens more often than we actually see it."

Wanting to move to a new house and facing the possibility of losing the house she had under contract, Brochu began a GoFundMe to help with the expense of putting in a new driveway in her Florida home. The fundraiser began six days ago and has since been disabled after raising more than $13,000.

"I currently am selling my home and am moving into my forever home with my family. Being a single mom, I worked extremely hard to purchase my first home all on my own. To say that I was excited to move into a new home, where my kids can grow and create new memories is an understatement. About a week after I listed my home for sale, I started to get phone calls and have people visit my home, trying to measure my driveway and state that they were sent by a landlord to replace the driveway. This, of course, is impossible since I am the homeowner and never needed a new driveway," she wrote in the description of the fundraising page.

"While I was preparing to head out of town for my birthday and Christmas with my kids, I received a ring doorbell notification that someone was outside of my house, ripping up my driveway before my eyes. By the time, the cops got there the company that was tearing up my driveway had already completed the job and left my driveway with only dirt."

Donations began pouring in from many people all over the world, with the highest donation being $500 from two donors.

One person who donated left a message about why they wanted to help Brochu out.

"I was ripped off yesterday for $1000. I have no recourse and should have known better. You, on the other hand, did what you could have to stop this nonsense and it still happened and there is no one who is going to confess and pay up. Hopefully, you will meet your goal and be able to move into the new home to start the new year and new life!"

Another person who donated $95 wrote, "The mystery of the stolen driveway carries far and wide."

WFTV shared an update on Brochu's situation. A Cox Media Group radio sponsor heard about Brochu's story and offered to install a new driveway at no cost to her. Brochu said that she plans to donate the money raised on GoFundMe to a local nonprofit in coordination with 9 Family Connection.