Consumer Law, Warranties statute of frauds/New York

[car1816]

I entered into an oral agreement with a contractor to perform work on my home. The basis for the job was time and material, eighteen months after the completion of the work the contractor is asking for more money claiming that the job was based on square footage. I have all the records that tracks the contractors time and I have paid for all materials and any receipt that the contractor gave me for his out of pocket expenses. Is there any basis for this case, I understand that he will claim that we had a different agreement in court but is there any provision in the statute of fraud that would prevent this type of behavior. I have looked at the statute and it talks about the sale of goods in excess of $500, the work that was performed was well in excess of that amount. I am trying to avoid excessive legal bills as a result of his unfounded request. Is there precendent or information that i can research to dismiss this.

 

[dee_dub]

The SOF doesn't cover agreements for the performance of services.

Even if it did, the SOF is probably inapplicable to your situation. The SOF is invoked when you argue the alleged contract was unenforceable because it failed to comply with the legal requirement of being in writing. It's pretty clear based on the performance of the parties that there was an agreement. You're not trying to argue there was NO contract; you're trying to argue that the contract is what you say it was, not what he says it was.

 

[car1816]

i am not disputing that we had an agreement but the agreement was for time and material for which i paid him every week, he is now saying that the typical agreement of this type would be based on square footage. Can they be taken seriously in a court?

 

[dee_dub]

The judge will believe whomever he or she finds to be more credible. Or they won't believe either of you - which, from your perspective, is still a loss. You've got all your receipts showing payment on a time and material basis; that's pretty good evidence for your account of the deal. I have no idea what the contractor might say to prove their account.