Consumer Law, Warranties Need advise about terminating a contract

[CK41]

"Contractor failed to complete the work"

MARCH 14, 2004: Contract signed for Deck/Fence & Patio; Paid 25%.
MAY, 2004: Received Building Permit from the county.
June 29, 2004: Recd HOA approval
JULY 13, 2004: Started work; Digged footing holes; Paid another 25%.

After taking 50% payment, contractor disppeared. We made several phone calls.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2004: Made Patio.
NOVEMBER 03, 2004: Filled footing holes with concrete.
FEBRUARY 08-09, 2005: Did framing for the deck.
No further activity after Feb. 09.

This contract does not state any start or complete date. In this situation what should I do? Should I keep waiting for the contractor to come and finish the work OR should I terminate the contract, hire another contractor and get my work done? Can I terminate the contract if it does not state completion date?

Please advise.

Thanks,
CK from VA

 

[NYClex]

To really give you a valid answer one would have to look at the contract and at what has been done so far and what needs to be done.

Basically the law is this:

Even if no time for completion is set in the contract, the law assumes it has to be done within a "reasonable" time. What is reasonable, of course, is difficult to define. Waiting a year now for completion of this project, however, sounds pretty unreasonable to me.

To have your contractual duties discharged the breach by the contractor must be a total breach. To establish this you first try to find out if the breach of contract has been material or immaterial. This issue will be decided upon looking on how much of the work has already been done, what still needs to be done and how difficult it is to get it done and so on.

Assuming this is a material breach, which it probably is, the contractor then would have again a "reasonable" time to cure the breach. If he doesn't do that, then and only then the breach becomes a total breach and you are free of the contract, and can sue the contractor for damages (you can already claim damages even if the breach is only material, but you are not yet free of your own contractual obligations then).

So what you might want to do is have an attorney look at your documents and your construction and help you with the next steps to take.