Pahrump woman claims she lost $76,000 to a contractor scam

In many states, including Nevada, contractor scams or fraud happen often. Someone is hired to do a home project, but results can end up being disastrous through numerous possibilities.

“There are groups of transient criminals who pose as door-to-door home repair contractors to rip off Nevada homeowners with painting, roofing and paving scams,” explains the Nevada State Contractors Board.

A Pahrump woman claims she lost over $70,000 to man who claimed to be a contractor.

“We’re nowhere now. He owes us money,” said Adriana Salzer. “We’ve tried to contact him numerous times via text. We try to call him. ‘Hey, we want our money back.’ He’s totally MIA.”

Salzer and her husband hired John Pereyda in February of this year for projects in their Pahrump home, including work for front yard artificial grass turf, backyard artificial grass turf, the pool, and concrete around the home. Salzer says they paid Pereyda $76,000 in total for the renovations.

“He’s a good talker. He’s a good salesperson,” said Salzer. “He can tell you it’s raining when the sun is bleeding, and you believe him. We believed him.”

Salzer says the turf in the front yard was the only thing Pereyda worked on. Salzer says she paid $38,000 for the turf work.

“It was a disaster,” said Salzer. “It looked like they had one eye open, the other one closed while they were working on it.”

Salzer says they paid Pereyda so much up front because they were unable to verify his progress since they were still living in California. The Salzers would visit Pahrump on the weekends while Pereyda allegedly worked on the weekdays.

She claims Pereyda told them that the front was close to being finished, so they sent him more money to proceed with the rest of the home. This time sending him an additional $38,000 but she says Pereyda never worked on anything further.

“It was always an excuse and that’s why he didn’t come,” Salzer said.

Salzer claims Pereyda would tell her that he was ill or that the weather was bad as some of the reasons as why he couldn’t show up. Salzer says the back turf, pool, and concrete were never even started by Pereyda.

“We trusted him,” said Salzer. “Our fault completely.”

Salzer says another reason they paid him so much additional money is because Pereyda always asked for more for his workers and building materials. She also adds that they were so generous with giving him money because they were intent on having the home done before they officially moved to Nevada.

Salzer said she was fed up with Pereyda not making any progress, demanding that he give them their money back so she could hire other people to do the work he never did.

“He would just trickle money in,” Salzer said. “Maybe $1,000, maybe $1,500, but that’s the extent of it.”

Salzer says Pereyda told her that he couldn’t pay back the rest because he spent the money on his wife and daughter’s medical bills.

Salzer says after Pereyda stopped paying them, she made various threats to get the authorities involved or to take legal action. She claims she finally convinced him to come to their home to ask for the money.

“He left about his business, and he doesn’t give us the money,” said Salzer.

Salzer said that through his previous small payments, Pereyda only ended up paying them back $43,100 of the $76,000 he owed and still hasn’t paid the rest.

“It’s just so unjust and I think justice needs to be served,” Salzer said. “He cannot keep destroying people’s lives.”

Salzer claims they are not the only people Pereyda has scammed, saying he’s done this to others in Nevada and other states. The Nevada State Contractors Board has Pereyda listed as an unlicensed violator.

“John Pereyda is an unlicensed contractor who misrepresents himself as a licensed pool and spa contractor,” states the Nevada State Contractors Board. “After receiving payment, Pereyda initiates the work but subsequently abandons the project, ceasing all communication with the customer.”

Salzer says they’ve had to pay an additional $25,800 to other vendors to have Pereyda’s work fixed and completed.

“It’s just not fair,” said Salzer. “My anxiety, depression, and now I’m having problems with my husband because I’m so irritated by everything.”

When reached by phone by the Pahrump Valley Times, Pereyda declined to comment.

Contact reporter Elijah Dulay at @edulay@pvtimes.com