Consumer Law, Warranties Sued by a Contractor

[jlrfreestuff]

I am currently in a dispute with a painting contractor I hired to paint the exterior of my house. The contract left lots of things undone or done incorrectly. He attempted to charge my credit card without my permission prior to completing the job. When the credit card company demanded proof of authorization, the contractor sued me for full payment even though he has acknowledged that there is work to be done. Do I have any recourse against this company?

 

[mike]

I am currently in a dispute with a painting contractor I hired to paint the exterior of my house. The contract left lots of things undone or done incorrectly. He attempted to charge my credit card without my permission prior to completing the job. When the credit card company demanded proof of authorization, the contractor sued me for full payment even though he has acknowledged that there is work to be done. Do I have any recourse against this company?

Absolutely. First, take pictures of everything the contractor did and make sure they are as clear as possible to how they were done incorrectly. Next, get two estimates with regard to how much it will cost to correct the shoddy work. Third, you should send a certified return receipt letter to the contractor confirming the fact that the contractor had admitted to not finishing the work, has refused to finish the work, and that if he did not withdraw the lawsuit then you would be forced to counterclaim damages as well.

Take a look at the contract. Is the contractor entitled to partial payment for getting partial payment for milestones or paid only when the work is done?

Be prepared with all your documentation if you get to court. You will need to get the work redone and you might as well go ahead doing that. At court, you should end up with no less than having the amount of the work be taken off the amount the contractor can claim. You will want to countersue for breach of contract and request that the judge allow you damages for a willful breach including dismissing the contractor's lawsuit altogether as either (1) The contract doesn't permit the contractor to collect any money until he completes the work and the contractor walked off the job without completing the work and (2) the court should not entertain a case by a plaintiff who is coming to court to collect on a contract that the plaintiff himself willfully breached. There is no reasonable dispute. Note the willfulness of the contractor who refused to finish the job and caused you to expend valuable time, money and efforts who now comes to court. No reasonable person would allow this person to walk away without suffering significant consequences for his bad act.

See how the case is going. If the judge refuses to dismis the plaintiff's case, you may want to point out to the judge that if the contractor is allowed to collect for work done and not be subject to penalties or offset for the damages caused to you, thecourt is basically giving contractors incentive to walk off a job and willfully breach contracts since they'll get paid for what they've done without any penalty for the bad act.

If you are organized, you can make the contractor look like a fool and few judges want to award a willful breach of contract.