Consumer Law, Warranties Contract & Payment mess

[workin4alivin]

I am self-employed and find myself in a unique situation.

I bid and won a job several months ago. One of my area competitors, who had also bid the job, it turned out, is also the local vendor/distributor for one of the spec'd products.

The general contractor whom we'd bid the job through, has been less-than organized and we had many issues during the job.

I am still awaiting payment on the retained amount of the origininal contract amount, as well as payment in full for an additional amount.

As it turns out, apparently rather early on, the vendor/competitor contacted the general contractor and the jointly negotiated a payment agreement for what my company would owe the vendor/competitor.

Now, the general is refusing to issue me payment without it being in both company names (my company and the vendor/competitor), is refusing to pay me interest on the overdue amounts, and refuses to turn over the checks without me signing off a lien release right there on the spot. Basically, he's holding my payment ransom.

I am losing a good sum of money from the interest and I don't think the general and the vendor have any business negotiating MY payment (the primary amount owed to me is on the secondary contract).

Also, as it turns out, I have reason to believe that the general contractor has forged a document required by the state, filling in information and signing my name on a form I haven't seen.

Can they do any of this to me???

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I don't understand. Do you have a contract? How do you know about the competitor's contract terms? You could actually sue both of them, the general contractor for breach of contract and the competitor for a tort called "tortious interference with contract." It is a "tort" or civil damages claim for exactly the situation you describe - when a third party tries to interference with the contract of two parties.

Whether or not what they are doing to you is right or legal, they are doing it to you. Unfortunately that's why people are forced to go to court. You may wish to send out a demand for payment letter if you haven't done so already and make sure that it's sent via a certifiable method. You may wish to hire a lawyer if the amount is significant, as much as I know it is painful. In your first demand letter, you should state that you expect payment with interest, as per the terms of the agreement, and that you hope further action is not necessary for the current breach of contract.

With regard to the document required by state, can you get hold of it? After all, if it has your signature, you should be able to see it. Then again, if you did the work and didn't sign it (and should have), you're also bringing your own action (or inaction) to the attention of someone you might wish to avoid.

 

[workin4alivin]

Yes, we have a contract with the general contractor. Two of them, actually.

We know about the competitor because 1)the general contractor told us that his company also bid the job and 2)the competitor is the only regional company allowed to sell one of the products specified on the job, so we had to order through him. (And he told us at the time we placed our order that he had also bid the job as a subcontractor.)

I don't know about the competitor's contract terms. I only know that the competitor/vendor contacted the general contractor regarding payment on the specified item we had to buy through him. That is why the general contractor refused to issue payment of the full contract amount to just my company. However, since I posted originally, the competitor/vendor was threatening legal action against me, so I caved and allowed the check situation to happen.

I have talked to the state and was told to request to verify the document. I am currently awaiting this. I am not concerned about any consequences to me, as I did properly fill out the form, and forward it as required.

Since I first posted, I have learned that the general contractor did, in fact, fill out and submit a copy of the same form, but I have a right to review it since my company is named. He claims he never received the copy I mailed and "had to make" their own.

This issue has gotten more complicated since I first posted, as the general refuses to issue me final payment until I sign a lien release on the full contract amounts. However, I know by admittance of his secretary that the amount of our contract he is supposed to issue to the state (employment taxes) has NOT been paid. The general contractor made several documentation errors and is hoping the delay in sending in the tax payment will help keep the state from realizing their errors, as they apparently already have some issues with the state.

The tax issue creates a separate situation for my business, since the general contractor submitted a 1099 to the IRS for the portion they had paid, but the taxes were not paid in the same tax year.

I told the general contractor he needed to pay me interest and get me the balance remaining or I would file for small claims court (as advised by a local attorney), and I felt like he threatened me. In fact, I asked him if it was a threat, and he giggled and said, "It's not a threat, I'm just saying I don't think you want to do that." I do however, truly believe it was a threat.

I am trying to go through state channels to get this resolved, but fear I may need to file small claims and risk the threat. I think the state is my best avenue because of the tax involved issues.

This really is one of the messiest issues I've dealt with in all my years in business.