How do I deal with a negligent contractor?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Boy, am I feeling stupid.

We had a carport on our newly-purchased home that was threatening to fall over and pull the side off of our house in the process. So I called a bunch of different handymen looking for someone who would tear it down and cart it off.

This one guy came in with a low bid (still significantly higher than what our realtor had told us it would cost), so we hired him to do the job. Paid him $500 up front, with the remainder when he finished.

Last Tuesday, he and his crew came out and tore down the carport. He told me that his partner had locked up the trailer that day, but that he’d bring the trailer out first thing Wednesday morning and cart everything away, and asked me for the remainder of the money (since I wouldn’t see him Wednesday morning).

Like a fool, I wrote him a check for the rest of the money. He cashed it within the hour.

Wednesday, it rained, and he said he couldn’t do it in the rain, but would come out on Friday.

Saturday, he called me and said that one of his guys had backed up the trailer wrong, and had broken the trailer hitch; they were welding a new one on, and they’d be out there first thing Monday morning to do the job.

I’ve called him on Monday evening, Tuesday evening, and this morning, but he’s not returning my calls. And our driveway is useless now, full of wood and nails and shingles, and he’s got our money.

What should I do?

One bright note: although the proposal he wrote up for us doesn’t specifically mention carting the debris away, on the memo line of the check he cashed I wrote “For car port removal.” His cashing that check, if I understand, constitutes an agreement to the memo line.

He’s a starting contractor and told me that he gets most of his business through referrals and seemed very interested in getting us to refer other people to him, so I’m not certain he’s scamming us; I suspect he’s just being lazy, or is swamped with other jobs and isn’t prioritizing a job that’s not going to get him any more money. At the same time, we really need to get that crap gone, because part of the carport removal exposed the bare wood of our house, and we need to get in and put up some siding over that area.

Do I give him more time? Do I take him to small claims court right away? Do I call the better business bureau? Can the cops do anything?

Daniel

2

IANAL, but the “memo-line agreement” I think is a little weak in the “contract” department.

I seem to remember something (I’m not sure if it was in the news or a sitcom!) that someone had written a check to the city of New York for a few dollars and it was deposited. In the memo line was written something like payment in full for Brooklyn Bridge; and hence he claimed the bridge was his.

Without a specific contract agreement to haul away the debris, you may not be able to legally force him to do it.
My suggestion would be to keep pressuring him to remove the debris.

3

The short answer is, you’re screwed.

He may still do it, but as you realize, he has to perform work and gain nothing by it. So there is no pressure on him - at least, nothing he recognizes as pressure - to follow thru.

Welcome to the world of home ownership.

What did his references tell you, when you called them to see what kind of contractor he was?

IANAL, but I suspect the memo line on the check won’t do much good. He already removed the car port (he can say), and carting away the debris wasn’t included.

As I said, he may still do it, but not if you don’t keep nagging him. I doubt the police are going to try to enforce the contract for you, and he probably doesn’t care about the Better Business Bureau. Small claims is a possibility, but not a good one. If you sue, and win, he already has the money, and it is quite possible he will simply ignore the judgement.

Good luck. I couldn’t predict how much in money or aggravation it will cost you to get rid of your debris.

Regards,
Shodan

4

IANAL, but a former contractor who delt with plenty of deliquent subs. Hopefully you learned a lesson, but here’s a few bright spots and hopefully this will help.

What you did was essentially give him an advance on the work to be completed. He is still bound by the terms of your contract (i.e. he still has to do the work) until both parties agree that the contract has been fulfilled.

That said, I hope you have a contract, otherwise if he’s really a jagoff you’ll end up fighting over the proposal which, strictly speaking, isn’t a binding agreement unless there’s a contract stipulating that the work is to be performed according to the proposal.

I’d go back and read the contract documents to determine a timeline and etc. If he complains, merely tell him that he’s got X days to get the thing up before you sue him. He may complain and threaten a lien, but since you’ve already paid him, that won’t stick. I really advise against threatening to sue him, but if there’s nothing else that you can do, that’s your last resort. Of course, talk to a lawyer before even threatening a suit.

Also, threatening to give him a bad reference won’t help as if he’s really determined to screw you, he won’t include you on his list of referrals.

I believe that if you went to court/arbitration, you’d probably get brobeaten by the judge for being naive, but you’d still get the work done.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes!

Whoops, reread the OP. Actually, if he’s doing work do haul the debris away and the removal’s not listed (as you mentioned), you might be screwed. The proposal should have a clause for removal of debris (it might be listed somewhere else). I think that removing the debris is outside of that standard “maintaining jobsite cleanliness” language, so he may argue that what you paid him is a change order which has no bearing on your obligation to pay the rest of your contract. There should have been documentation authorizing the change, but if he starts complaining, I’d call the lawyer right away.

Also, start faxing him so you have a paper trail. Make sure you get transmission tickets.

5

IANAL, but it seems to me that you had an understanding that he was supposed to haul off the debris. After all, when you called him, he did not respond that he wasn’t going to haul off the debris; he responded with excuses why he couldn’t do it that day. Seems to me that that’s evidence that he understood he had an obligation to remove the trash, regardless of what was written on the memo line of your check.

Serious, but out-of-the-box suggestion here: time to call Judge Judy, Texas Justice, the People’s Court, Judge Mathis, and all those other shows. Could well be that you could get a chance to be on TV, embarass the contractor, and I hear those shows pay you whether or not the defendant abides by the ruling. That’s better than what can be said of small claims court. Go for it. Seriously.

6

Do not do this under any circumstances. For one, these “judges” have only the vaguest comprehension of the law. That’s why they’re on television. For another, both parties must agree to appear on the program, and only complete morons do so. The proper last resort is to file a claim in your local Small Claims to get your money back. Do that after you send a certified letter demanding that he complete his obligation, and report him to the local licensing boards and other relevant authorities.

7

:frowning: I hope y’all are all wrong about how much I’ve screwed myself. I’ve not done any work with contractors before, and I think I was far too informal about the way I handled everything, and that may end up costing me the hundreds of dollars it’d take to get someone else to haul off the trash.

My instincts about people rarely steer me wrong, but I think they may have in this case. I’ve certainly learned my lesson.

Hopefully I’ll be able to report good news here soon. If not, at least I’ll be able to sic some professional organizations on him.

Daniel

8

Okay, now I just don’t know what to believe. I’m inclined to think this guy’s not screwing me over after all.

I just got a phone call from a friend of the contractor. She said he’d asked her to call me, that he’d been called out of town because of a death in the family, and that he conveyed his sincere apologies and promised to get to the job by this coming Monday.

On the one hand, this is the fourth excuse I’ve gotten for why the job hasn’t been done. On the other hand, if he were just planning on screwing me over, what percentage would he have in even contacting me any more about it?

I dunno what to believe. I want to believe he’ll do right by his word.

I guess all I can do at this point is document, and hope that’s worth something if I need it later on.

Daniel

9

IANAL-but am a contractor. Did you have anything more than a verbal agreement? Some guys will write a job proposal on a lumber yard pad using one of their kids crayons, and the really anal ones (like me) describe demolition, loading, haul and disposal of all debris, jobsite to be left in broom-swept state of order. Was a demolition permit required by your municipality? If so, did he obtain it? Did anyone witness your conversations or is this a “he said” and “I said” argument? Get some estimates from appropriate contractors for loading, hauling, and disposal of debris-the part of the job he hasn’t done. That way you have a tangible number with a basis in fact. Then call Mr. Schmucko, and advise him that unless he gets his lazy keyster over to Casa Le Dork toot sweet, you will hire another party to complete the job, and seek redress via the local magistrate. In PA, I can file an action with the local District Justice for about $50 IIRC, and am limited to $8000 recovery, plus costs.

Seriously-my volunteer fire company had some work done improperly, and I sued the GC because the mechanical contractor had gone out of business, won a judgement, filed for execution with the Sheriff, and filed the action with the Prothonotary. When he saw that I wasn’t gonna back off, he ponied up every penny, and all of the filing fees.

Good luck.

10

First don’t assume he is ducking your calls. Contractors can work long hard hours and not get in until late. Their days also start pretty early. Is it hunting season down there? MOst contractors I know disappear during deer season for at least a week or two. He could also be a total shyster.

Second If you have a fax machine. and he has a fax machine. Attach that little receipt to a couple of larger peices of paper, taping the bottom of one to the top of the next sheet so it Loops. Comprende? Now Fax it to him. He will get about 2 billion copies on his fax and possibly the point.

Three I beleive this would be a case for small claims court. Anything under $500 is small claims, I think.

FourFind out where his mama lives and call her to tell her her son did not finish the job he started. Do this once. anything more than that is stalking.

Five Put a sign in front of your house stating that Whatshisface and his phone number failed to do their job. I’ve seen this done a few times. Always entertaining.

Six Send a registered letter to him with a copy highlighting the carport clean up cart off part. Tell him he has two weeks to clean it up or you will proceed to small claims court. Yeah, it will be a pain to take off work, but he has not done his job and he has taken your money.
It is your money. Fight to have him do what he was suppose to do or to get it back. Don’t just sit there an take it up the ass.

Good luck

Love, Shirley, whose husband use to build homes.

11

We have a proposal form with a cost on it; it’s a preprinted, carbonless-copy form, which leads me to think he’s got a substantial enough business that he’s not willing to throw it away on a stupid scam. I have no idea if a demolition permit is required by my municipality or if he obtained one; that never even occurred to me. (I’m a complete amateur at this kind of thing). If anyone witnessed our conversations, it would’ve been his employees.

Crap. I shoulda gotten the number for his friend Danielle who called me. Hmm–something’s showing up on my caller ID that might be her. I’ll save that number. At least she knows that he’s agreed to do the job, even if she’s his friend and might lie about it later.

Shirley, thanks for the advice, but for one reason or another I don’t think most of it will work :). If he’s telling the truth, he’s been missing my calls because he’s out of town; for all I know he just checked messages and discovered the five messages from me over the last three days. And until I know for sure that he’s a shyster, I don’t want to do anything to antagonize him: as I see it, right now there’s a good chance that he’s just not being very professional but he intends to fulfill his obligation, and if I piss him off, I could easily get him to think, “Screw that guy, if he’s gonna be an asshole, I’ll see him in court.” I’d much rather keep things amicable.

But the small claims court may end up being what I have to do.

dances, I really appreciate the ideas. I’m thinking at this point that if he’s not completed the job by Monday, I’ll go ahead and get estimates from other people on moving it, and confront him with that, giving him 3 days to complete the job before I hire someone else and charge him for it. Does that sound reasonable, or do you think I ought to ignore his claim of a family tragedy and go ahead with getting other estimates now? And do you have any ideas of what sort of documentation I should be gathering? I’m thinking pictures, a timeline, and copies of the check, the proposal form, and the handwritten receipt are the best I can do.

Daniel

12

Mr. Snugs and I had much the same problem with a tree removal service. The guy did everything except grind the stumps, and since he’d done a good job up til then, we paid him. And the stumps did not get ground for months, but we heard some really good, heart-rending excuses and, of course, he ignored our phone calls. IAAL, so I sent him a “lawyer letter” - registered, return receipt requested -requesting that he finish the job. He ignored it, too - the amount was too small to bother going to court with and he knew it. In South Carolina, magistrate’s court (small claims court) handles everything up to $7500. Plus it would have taken over a year to be heard, so we got creative. We have a couple of local news channels that offer consumer helplines for just such an emergency. Mr. Snugs called the guy and told him to buy a suit, 'cause he’s gonna be on tv! He came out the next day and ground the stumps… Maybe your local news channel has something similar - or like us, perhaps just the threat of really bad publicity will be enough.

Good luck.

13

I’m not opposed to giving a fellow a break. A death in the family on top of trailer hell could be entirely legit. At the same time, If I’ve (hypothetically) been paid 100% for your job, I have no business doing 1% of anybody elses job until yours is complete. At any given time, I may have a dozen projects running, but even from my closest friends/longtime customers, I won’t accept final $ until the job is done. That’s my hard rule.

My gut is to see if he shows on Monday, and if not, release the hounds.