Being shut out by seller/contractor - what to do?

[jbfohe]

We bought a "spec" house from a contractor in late November 2007. The house wasn't complete when we bought it and moved in, but it was written into the purchase agreement, initalled and signed by the contractor/seller in front of the banker, realtor and title company, that all would be completed...by the end of January 08. This included an addition that $30,000of the purchase price was held back for. All that remains in that account is $4,000 and the addition is far from being completed and even the main house has a lot of work left undone. It is now almost seven months! The contractor/seller won't take our calls at all, let alone answer them. He won't take the calls from his realtor or our realtor, either. He basically has taken the money and put it into other homes he has started and has written us off with all this work left to be done -- that we've paid for in advance! All we have are the closing documents he signed, agreeing to do the work for the purchase price. This is just surreal to us that someone would do this! What can we do? Please help.

 

[lwpat]

Who held the 30,000 and why was it relaeased if the work was not done? Hire an attorney which is what you should have done at closing.

 

[jbfohe]

Wells Fargo Bank held the $30,000 -- and the banker, and our realtor both advised us to release the money in advance of the work being done so the contractor would be able to pay for all he needed to complete the house. But he used the money on other houses he was building...and says he doesn't have enough to finish ours. We tried saying we wouldn't release it until certain things were done, but then he promptly pulled any workers he had on our house OFF of the job until we released the money. Now it doesn't even matter since he won't respond to us. Our realtor (in his late 60's, owner of a huge realty firm) said hiring a lawyer will only cause us more financial harm, as the contractor has no money to pay if he is sued successfully -- and he'll only declare bankruptcy and we're STILL out our money, plus attorney fees. Is this B.S. -- could an attorney do something OTHER than sue?

 

[lwpat]

could an attorney do something OTHER than sue

Yes, an attorney would have told you not to release the money or to write dual checks for the work done on your home.

Does your state have a contractor's licensing board? If so, start with a complaint to them. Then check with the tax office to see if the contractor owns any property in the exact name. In most places you can do this on line. If you win, you can attach the property and have priority in BK. I have won the battle and lost the war so that is a consderation before retaining an attorney unless one will take it on a contingency but it doesn't sound likely.

You may also have a casue of action against the realtor and Wells Fargo depending on exactly how everything was handled.

 

[jbfohe]

Thank you for the advice!