Hi,
I'm new here & was surfing the net trying to figure out what my rights are & what my general contractors rights are & what some of the definations of the legal terms are in what unfortunately might become a fraud by contractor lawsuit. It's hard to be breif & not leave anyhting out, but I'll try.
I contracted to build a barn last Spring with a contractor that's been highly rated for over 30 years. The contract stipulated that the work would begin later that year & be completed approx. two months after starting. 1/3 down to get started (survey, some material costs, labor for sub-contrators, etc.), 1/3 during construction (for the same reasons) & 1/3 at completion. The total is roughly $75,000. Things started later than expected & work was slow but at the point where I paid the second installment all work stopped. This was about two months after it started & the worst winter on record was about to begin preventing any more work from being done due to the depth of the snow. My guess is that the work was slow & eventually stopped because my general wasn't paying the subs or for the materials. After another month the concrete company informed me that they would be putting a lien on my property due to non-payment for $13,000 worth of concrete. To avoid that I paid it on the last day & got reciepts all the way around & a statement stating that it would be deducted from the amount owed on the last installment. It was obvious then that my general contractor didn't have any money as I was paying his bill. With the severe winter all was quiet for the most part. He stopped by to do some work & measure for the next step, but basically nothing has happened since mid-November. Now it's way too muddy to work & will be for about another two to four weeks. I decided to check his website to see if it was updated (to attract more work & generate finds for him I hoped) & it was; a good sign. Then a nosey co-worker looked him up on our circuit court website; he's being sued for forclosure (lis pendens, or something like that is mentioned on the court website) with a court date in two weeks. Obviously he's broke & has been for a while. I called & mentioned this new info & he claimed that although he was refinancing he was not aware of the foreclosure (yeah, right). But...There may be a bit of truth in that statement as that mortgage company specialized in hi-risk mortgages until the end of last year when they got out of that business; maybe they called in the loan when they got out of that business & this guy is having so much trouble getting refinancing (due to being hi-risk) that he's facing foreclosure in the interim. I don't want to punish him, Lord knows he's got enough problems, but I'm not rich (or I'd have a lawyer by now! I held back the $75,000 from the sale of our old home when we moved into this place last year). I just want my barn built! By mutual agreement due to the conditions on the ground (caused by the severe winter) he's not due back for a few weeks, but based on the evidence I wonder if he'll ever be coming back. With this court thing in two weeks............what are my options? I hate to take him to court when we both agreed not to start work yet, but what happens in that court room could affect me in a negetive way if I'm not "in line" for restitution, right? I have no idea what to do & I fear that doing nothing may make it worse for me, or will acting (lawsuit) make it worse than it already is?
I'm new here & was surfing the net trying to figure out what my rights are & what my general contractors rights are & what some of the definations of the legal terms are in what unfortunately might become a fraud by contractor lawsuit. It's hard to be breif & not leave anyhting out, but I'll try.
I contracted to build a barn last Spring with a contractor that's been highly rated for over 30 years. The contract stipulated that the work would begin later that year & be completed approx. two months after starting. 1/3 down to get started (survey, some material costs, labor for sub-contrators, etc.), 1/3 during construction (for the same reasons) & 1/3 at completion. The total is roughly $75,000. Things started later than expected & work was slow but at the point where I paid the second installment all work stopped. This was about two months after it started & the worst winter on record was about to begin preventing any more work from being done due to the depth of the snow. My guess is that the work was slow & eventually stopped because my general wasn't paying the subs or for the materials. After another month the concrete company informed me that they would be putting a lien on my property due to non-payment for $13,000 worth of concrete. To avoid that I paid it on the last day & got reciepts all the way around & a statement stating that it would be deducted from the amount owed on the last installment. It was obvious then that my general contractor didn't have any money as I was paying his bill. With the severe winter all was quiet for the most part. He stopped by to do some work & measure for the next step, but basically nothing has happened since mid-November. Now it's way too muddy to work & will be for about another two to four weeks. I decided to check his website to see if it was updated (to attract more work & generate finds for him I hoped) & it was; a good sign. Then a nosey co-worker looked him up on our circuit court website; he's being sued for forclosure (lis pendens, or something like that is mentioned on the court website) with a court date in two weeks. Obviously he's broke & has been for a while. I called & mentioned this new info & he claimed that although he was refinancing he was not aware of the foreclosure (yeah, right). But...There may be a bit of truth in that statement as that mortgage company specialized in hi-risk mortgages until the end of last year when they got out of that business; maybe they called in the loan when they got out of that business & this guy is having so much trouble getting refinancing (due to being hi-risk) that he's facing foreclosure in the interim. I don't want to punish him, Lord knows he's got enough problems, but I'm not rich (or I'd have a lawyer by now! I held back the $75,000 from the sale of our old home when we moved into this place last year). I just want my barn built! By mutual agreement due to the conditions on the ground (caused by the severe winter) he's not due back for a few weeks, but based on the evidence I wonder if he'll ever be coming back. With this court thing in two weeks............what are my options? I hate to take him to court when we both agreed not to start work yet, but what happens in that court room could affect me in a negetive way if I'm not "in line" for restitution, right? I have no idea what to do & I fear that doing nothing may make it worse for me, or will acting (lawsuit) make it worse than it already is?
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