Consumer Law, Warranties Deck Builder charging more than agreed

[pra4snw]

I had a deck installed on my house. The contractor quoted me a price of $5064.74 for the job. I signed nothing and there were no other conditions, just a simple "Deck Proposal". At the end of the job, he presented me with an invoice for $5774.04, claiming that he had to rent excavation equipment and charge extra labor to remove large boulders. He never told me about this extra charge until the end. At this point, I have paid him the agreed upon price, but he is expecting payment of the balance.
My questions are:
Do I owe him this money since it was not ever disclosed to me,
If I do not pay, what if any legal action may I expect from him,
Although he said he did, I do not think he ever got the proper permits from the town, can this come back to haunt me if he decides to push the issue?

Thanks.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I had a deck installed on my house. The contractor quoted me a price of $5064.74 for the job. I signed nothing and there were no other conditions, just a simple "Deck Proposal". At the end of the job, he presented me with an invoice for $5774.04, claiming that he had to rent excavation equipment and charge extra labor to remove large boulders. He never told me about this extra charge until the end. At this point, I have paid him the agreed upon price, but he is expecting payment of the balance.
My questions are:
Do I owe him this money since it was not ever disclosed to me,
If I do not pay, what if any legal action may I expect from him,
Although he said he did, I do not think he ever got the proper permits from the town, can this come back to haunt me if he decides to push the issue?

In short, if the builder never told you about the additional expenses then the agreed amount is what you owe the builder. If it was just an "estimate" or "proposal" subject to small variances, which it may be in this business, then you'd likely owe the larger amount - however, this difference is over 10% of the bill. I would say that it was the contractor's duty to inform you of a significant difference. This is going to be a difficult case since it is your word against the contractors but if you have proof of the estimate in writing, the contractor has a tough case. In small claims court I wouldn't be surprised if you see them split the difference down the middle.