NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The Charlotte-based developer behind the Hilton Bluffs project in Castle Hayne is facing a formal complaint with the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office for allegedly misrepresenting its professional credentials to the public.
A formal consumer complaint filed with the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office on Jan. 8 alleged Copper Builders, LLC is “falsely claiming” on its website to be accredited by the Better Business Bureau.
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The Copper Builders homepage does not actively display the “BBB Accredited Business” seal as of Jan. 14. However, the seal remained on the site for at least 28 days; the complaint includes a screenshot confirming the unauthorized seal was visible as of Dec. 15, 2025. It also appeared on the site as of Jan. 13 at 10:30 a.m.
PCD reached out to Copper Builders founder Wade Miller for comment on the consumer complaint and the company’s use of the seal on Jan. 13. While Miller did not respond, the BBB Accredited seal was removed from the Copper Builders website later that evening. The company has not provided a statement on when and why its BBB Accredited status changed and whether it intends to seek re-accreditation.
Juliana O’Rork, Vice President of communications for the BBB of Southern Piedmont and Western N.C. — the region where Copper Builders is based — confirmed Copper Builders is not currently accredited.
PCD asked O’Rork when and why Copper Builders’ accreditation ended; however, O’Rork was unable to provide the details, citing bureau policy preventing staff from disclosing the specific date or reason a business’s status is discontinued. She emphasized the BBB’s online registry remains the definitive source for a company’s standing with the bureau.
“If ever we stumble upon a business where the seal is still displaying and they’re not an accredited business, we do take action, as far as reaching out to them to let them know that they obviously can’t be using that information,” O’Rork said.
BBB accreditation is a voluntary, paid membership signifying a business has been vetted against the “BBB Standards for Trust.” Standards include honest advertising and a commitment to resolving consumer disputes. To earn the accredited seal, a company must maintain a “B” rating or higher, provide proof of required professional licensing, and pass a review of its marketplace behavior by the local BBB board of directors. Once approved, the business pays an annual fee to display the trademarked logo.
Despite the company’s accreditation status, the BBB registry shows Copper Builders currently holds an “A+” rating. BBB ratings are based on how reliably a business responds to and fixes customer problems rather than customer reviews. BBB ratings serve to give consumers confidence they are dealing with an ethical business. In 2024, over 150 million visited the BBB site for business information.
Speaking with PCD, filer of the complaint and Castle Hayne resident Scott Gallagher said he is glad the seal has since been removed. He explained he was looking at prospective home builders when he came across Copper Builders webpage.
“Whenever I see an accreditation like the National Building Association or Better Business Bureau, I check to see if it’s legit,” Gallagher said. “If somebody is making a $500,000 decision based on something that is false, it ought to be corrected.”
Copper Builders is the development team behind Hilton Bluffs, a proposed 4,000-unit, “by-right” residential community on the Sledge Forest property in Castle Hayne.
The latest accreditation issue follows a string of hurdles for Miller and Copper Builders. In April 2025, the developer was issued a notice of violation for placing an unpermitted structure in a high-risk flood area at the Sledge Forest site. Over the summer, Miller was also fined by the Town of Wrightsville Beach for docking a “floating home” in violation of town code. Miller eventually moved the vessel to Carolina Beach after racking up roughly $500 in fines.
Copper Builders submitted their third application for Hilton Bluffs to the New Hanover Technical Review Committee in November of 2025. The application is currently under review by county staff and a traffic impact analysis for the project from the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization and North Carolina Department of Transportation is pending.
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