A paving company that was accused of intimidating a La Mesa woman and her father into paying them thousands of dollars is no longer allowed to do business in the state of California.

In February 2023, Zoe Chakiris contacted NBC 7 Responds, wanting to warn others about a paving company that had knocked on her door. She said a man who identified himself as Mark Young with Elite Paving offered to repave her driveway with some asphalt he had left over from another job.

Photo of a man from a home security video

Zoe Chakiris

Zoe Chakiris

A La Mesa woman said this man identified himself as Mark Young, the owner of Elite Paving.

Chakiris and her elderly father, who also lived at the home, said they agreed to the price of $3,500. She said that less than two hours later, the deal went south when only about a third of the driveway had been repaved.

“He said it’s going to cost you more if you want us to do the rest of the driveway,” Chakiris told NBC 7 Responds. “And I kind of lost it and said, ‘I’m not going to give you more money.’ ”

Chakiris said she and her father didn’t want to pay but ended up doing so under pressure.

“It was very intimidating; they were bullies,” Chakiris recalled, “and I told my dad to just write the check to get them out of here.”

Chakiris said five of the workers waited outside her home while Young went to the bank to cash the check. After they left, she contacted the district attorney’s office, the Contractors State License Board and NBC 7 Responds.

NBC 7 was able to confirm that Elite Paving had a valid contractor’s license at the time, with Young listed as the sole owner. The company’s address is in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. The company’s website had the same phone number as the one on the California contractor’s license and the side of the truck that we discovered parked in Santee.

After calling the number, a man who answered the phone identified himself as Mark Young. He called Chakiris a liar, among other offensive names. He said she knew the price was only for the extra asphalt that he had on the truck and said he never intimidated her to pay up. He admitted that he should have drafted a written contract for the job.

A few hours after that phone call in 2023, a man showed up at Chakiris’ door. She said he told her, “Mark said you were making trouble. What do you want?” She told him to leave, and he did.

NBC 7’s Sergio Flores shares the story of a La Mesa woman and her dispute with the company Elite Paving.

California Contractors State License Board takes legal action

The CSLB launched an investigation after Chakiris filed a complaint in February 2023. In January of 2025, the agency filed a civil complaint, known as an “accusation,” against Elite Paving. 

The accusation laid out the following allegations:

  • Young failed to provide a written contract
  • Chakiris felt intimidated, bullied and scared by Young
  • Young’s workers knocked on the door while Young was at the bank, directing Chakiris’ father to call the bank to authorize the bank to cash the check
  • Young failed to complete the project for the contract price and abandoned the project
  • Young departed from accepted trade standards in regard to the quality of the work done
  • Young signed his application for a California contractor’s license under penalty of perjury and failed to disclose that he had been disciplined by another state’s contractors board

An administrative hearing was scheduled for June 9-10. NBC 7 tried to log on to watch it virtually, but it never happened. Chakiris said she was told they were working on a settlement. The state wouldn’t confirm that at the time, only saying the matter was still pending.

Last week, the CSLB announced it had reached a settlement with Elite Paving and Young. Their contractor’s license is being revoked for two years, and Young has been ordered to pay the state more than $8,000 for the cost of the investigation. 

NBC 6 left messages for Young, but he didn’t reply.

Chakiris paid another company $4,300 to fix and finish the paving job. She was able to recoup the cost by filing a claim with Elite Paving’s bond.

Sadly, Chakiris’ father recently passed away and is not here to see the outcome of the case, but, she told NBC 7, that she was glad the company is being held responsible. 

A history of trouble for Young’s paving companies

We aren’t the first local NBC station to report on problems with Young. We found this 2015 story from WJAR, our sister station in Providence, Rhode Island. It was about a paving company called MTY Paving getting shut down by the state. 

The owner, Mark Young, was accused of preying on the elderly – knocking on their doors, saying the company had leftover asphalt, just like what was offered to Zoe.

Twelve complaints were filed with the state’s licensing board against the company, which ended up agreeing to pay back customers more than $32,000, according to the report.

We asked the Mark Young we spoke with in 2023 if he knew of MTY Paving or had any association with it. He told us no. We later texted him a link to the 2015 news story, asking if it was him. We never got a response.

What You Can Do to Protect Yourself

The CSLB has the following advice for you to decrease the chances of a project going wrong:

  • Check the contractor’s license. Is it active? Are there any disclosable complaints against the company?
  • Make sure there is a written contract. It should contain details about the exact work that will be done and include a payment schedule
  • Don’t give a down payment of more than 10% or $1,000, whichever is less
  • File a complaint with the CSLB if the project deviates from the contract and you can’t come to an agreement with the contractor

Chakiris has her own advice based on what she went through: “Do your due diligence. Ask friends and neighbors for referrals.”