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Update pg 3 - Had to fire contractor for home reno and need to recover costs:

Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:03 am
Posted by SUB
Member since Jan 2001
Member since Jan 2009
20952 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:03 am
We hired a contractor a while back to do some work on our house. His contract included a clause that he owes us 3% of the total cost of the contract for every 5 days that he hasn't finished by the completion date in the contract.

Apparently, he had grossly underbid some work and does not have enough money to buy the materials to finish the project. This led to him firing all of his subs and staff and trying to do a lot of the work himself, in which he was not qualified to do. This led to some shotty work that will need to be redone. When we found out him running out of money, he was already several weeks past the contract completion date, and we had paid in full because of the 3% late penalties. We terminated the contract with him because he cannot ensure us when he will complete everything. We got quotes from other contractors, and there is probably about $10-12K worth of work to be done, including materials.

Do I have a legitimate claim to make him pay for all of this? It get's really confusing because of the 3% late penalties. One advantage that we have to collecting money is that I paid for everything via credit card, so I can dispute charges if need be. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Update - I filed a credit card dispute for less than $10k in July. A few weeks ago my bank sent me a letter confirming that the dispute was resolved and they awarded me the full amount requested.
This post was edited on 10/13/16 at 12:13 pm
Posted by Chad504boy
4 posts
Member since Feb 2005
166500 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:05 am to
that money is history.
Posted by alajones
Huntsvegas
Member since Oct 2005
34513 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:05 am to
You'll never get back one penny.
Posted by AUCE05
Member since Dec 2009
42574 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:10 am to
Chalk it up as a lesson in construction. Always vet your subs.
Posted by TheDude321
Member since Sep 2005
3160 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:11 am to
quote:

shotty


*shoddy
Posted by Cosmo
glassman's guest house
Member since Oct 2003
120410 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:14 am to
You are dumb for paying in full up front
Posted by tigersmanager
Member since Jun 2010
7485 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:15 am to
Sue him and file complaint with contractors board so he won't do this to other people if you used credit card dispute transactions don't just say goodbye to your money fight for it you may never get back but at least try
Posted by 777Tiger
Member since Mar 2011
73856 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:19 am to
confused about you paying in full before the work is done(big mistake btw,) if the contract stipulates that he would be penalized for going over the completion date, anyway, he's a fly by night that took your money to try and keep his head above water or buy/pay for labor/materials for other jobs that were in progress, or go to Vegas, anyway, it's highly unlikely that you'll ever see any money from him, he's broke, life lesson, move on, and never pay in full in advance for a job like that
Posted by dbbuilder79
Overton NV
Member since Dec 2010
4154 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:20 am to
Never even pay half up front.

The only way you'll see something back is if he's bonded with the state. Then you can try to go after the bond. I don't know if that's required there. If he is, tho, all you would need is his contractor's lic or possibly his business lic.


Posted by the4thgen
Dallas, tx
Member since Sep 2010
1781 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:22 am to
NEVER PAY A CONTRACT IN FULL UNTIL THE WORK IS DONE!!!!!!!
Posted by DirtyMikeandtheBoys
Member since May 2011
19429 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:23 am to
What you get for taking low bid, instead of most qualified bid.
Posted by Mie2cents
the round part of earth
Member since Dec 2012
3462 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:27 am to
SUB - I'm like the other guy who stated "lesson learned". His bad work has nothing to with it because he was trying but you terminated the contract which I assume means you fired him. If I hire someone to do a 100 foot fence and they do the fence but it looks like crap, I still have to pay them. Shoddy work or not, I hired them and they built the fence. Trust me, I've seen it all and heard it all when it comes to contractors. Learn from it and move on. It was YOUR decision to hire this guy so YOU must accept that. Live and learn my brother. Live and learn.
Posted by SadSouthernBuck
Las Vegas
Member since Dec 2007
748 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 11:43 am to
Is he a licensed, bonded, and insured contractor and was having a bond stipulated in the contract? If so get with a lawyer and call his bond in.
Posted by Breauxsif
Member since May 2012
22290 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 12:05 pm to
quote:

When we found out him running out of money,


When we found out he was running out of money,

FIFY

Oh and, you'll never see a dime of that money back. You should've used Amazon Home services, they background check and perform a quality check on contractors that use their platform. Angie's List will even guarantee the work of the contractor up to $10K if shoddy work is performed. You should've done a better job researching contractors, I guess this is a hard lesson for you to learn.
This post was edited on 6/29/16 at 12:10 pm
Posted by Jeff Boomhauer
Arlen, TX
Member since Jun 2016
3552 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 12:08 pm to
Don't take the low bid. Best advice there is.

No, you won't have any luck recovering your money. You just paid a lot of tuition to the school of hard knocks to learn to not take the low bid. Take the middle bid.
Posted by boosiebadazz
Member since Feb 2008
80399 posts
Posted on 6/29/16 at 12:34 pm to
A lot of times a judgment is worth only the paper it's written on. This sounds like it may be one of those times.
Posted by Tiger Ryno
#WoF
Member since Feb 2007
103168 posts
Posted on 10/12/16 at 7:46 pm to
He already lost his arse. Chalk up to a bad decision on your part for hiring the cheapest.
Posted by Earthquake 88
Mobile
Member since Jan 2010
3018 posts
Posted on 10/12/16 at 7:49 pm to
Can't get blood from a turnip. The dude is obviously broke. Sometimes the cheapest bid is not always the cheapest.
Posted by poops_at_parties
Member since Jan 2016
1545 posts
Posted on 10/12/16 at 7:57 pm to
Who was this contractor? I'm looking for one right now and am terrified of getting screwed? Is this in SELA?
Posted by kywildcatfanone
Wildcat Country!
Member since Oct 2012
119501 posts
Posted on 10/12/16 at 8:43 pm to
Your money is gone. Did you check references or anything before hiring him?
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