Over charged by Home Advisor

[SwishPainting]

Jurisdiction

New York

I am a painting contractor who relies on lead sites such as CraftJack and Home Advisor I had joined Home Advisor before they merged with Angies List. The way they work is you set a monthly spending limit and are then sent painting leads throughout the month based on the spending limit I myself set. The amount of leads I receive a month is completely up to me based on what I set my spending limit. Some months I would set my limit at 200.00 and a few times I set it as high as 300.00. The last month I had used Home Advisor I had set my monthly spending limit at 300.00. within a week of setting my monthly spending limit at $300.00 I logged on to my Home Advisor account and as shocked to see that I had been charged for $6,194.88 worth of leads that has since been sent to collections. I have tried to contact Home Advisor but I am given the run around. I demanded to know how I can be charged even one dollar over the 300.00 dollars I had set my monthly limit to let alone $6,194.88 and am never given a legitimate answer. Any advice as to how I should go about this legally would be greatly appreciated. Would this be a matter for small claims court and is there a specific type of layer that deals with issues like this.

 

[Tax Counsel]

Any advice as to how I should go about this legally would be greatly appreciated. Would this be a matter for small claims court and is there a specific type of layer that deals with issues like this.

You asked the same question on another legal board site. I answered your question there, but at that point did not have the state where you are located. Here, you've indicated that you are in New York. As I pointed out on the other board, the current HomeAdvisor contract for contractors posted to its site specifies, among other things, that you had to respond to the charges to your account in writing within 30 days of when they are incurred. Failure to do that is, per the contract, deemed a waiver of any claims you have with respect to those charges. So, as I asked you on the other board, did you dispute those charges within the 30 days? If not, you might be stuck with having to pay the company given that provision of the contract.

The contract also requires that you resolve any disputes with HomeAdvisor by binding arbitration, thus precluding you from having the option to go to court for this. That binding arbitration is likely enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The arbitration may save you money over a lawsuit in court.

If the arbitration provision were for some reason not enforceable, you could then file a lawsuit in court if you wanted, but the contract specifies that you'd have to file suit in federal or state court in Denver, Colorado. You'd not qualify to sue in federal court over this (which would be more expensive than state court anyway). You would, though, be able to sue in small claims court in Denver, as the Colorado small claims limit is $7,500. But your costs to come out to Denver to do that cannot be recovered in that lawsuit; win or lose you'll be out those costs. So the arbitration might still be your best bet anyway.

If you didn't dispute the charges within 30 days you'd have to make the argument that the provision for the 30 day requirement is invalid or unenforceable for some reason to succeed. The contract specifies that Colorado law applies. If you missed that deadline then I'll get more into the issue of whether that requirement is enforceable.

As for lawyers to consult, I suggest you'll want to talk to a business/contract litigation attorney in Denver about this given that the contract states Colorado law governs the contract.

 

[Red Kayak]

The last month I had used Home Advisor I had set my monthly spending limit at 300.00. within a week of setting my monthly spending limit at $300.00 I logged on to my Home Advisor account and as shocked to see that I had been charged for $6,194.88 worth of leads that has since been sent to collections. I have tried to contact Home Advisor but I am given the run around.

Please clarify: what have you done to dispute the charges? Hopefully you have kept a record of the steps that you have taken to contest the charges.

Would it be correct to assume that this occurred some time ago? After all, things don't get sent immediately to collections. Months? Years?

 

[Red Kayak]

As for lawyers to consult, I suggest you'll want to talk to a business/contract litigation attorney in Denver about this given that the contract states Colorado law governs the contract.

Just pointing attention to this salient point: OP is in NY, but OP signed a contract whose terms are governed by CO law.

The jurisdiction is CO, not NY.

Not exactly what OP wants to hear, but important for OP and others signing similar contracts to consider.

I'll reiterate that it is important in such dealings to have a record of what actions have been taken to mitigate the problem, beyond chat bots and 800 numbers. If someone wants to go to court, it is very important for them to have some evidence that they have made good faith efforts in a timely fashion to mitigate the problem.

 

[adjusterjack]

It's also important to keep records before there is trouble.

For example, did the OP take a screen shot when he selected the $300 spending limit?

 

[Zigner]

This sounds like a chargeback based on prior leads that defaulted on their payment(s), not a "charge".