Want to spread the word about a dishonest general contractor.. and do it legally.

[gunshipflyer]

Jurisdiction

Florida

I can take hours writing about our home build experience...but even after numerous combat deployments I can say this last year has been the worst and most stressful of my life. On top of that, our builder left us with a "custom" house that was 90% complete with finishes and attention to detail worse that your cookie cutter track homes. He has not paid a number of his subs forcing us to pay and doesn't come back to fix items he was supposed to. He still has about $16,000 in repairs to the tile, roof, etc that I know he will never finish and owes us more than $10,000 in credits that we had to give up and call even. Long story short, I would like to steer people away from using him to the max extent possible. BBB and other places like it are worthless when it comes to having any effect on a business and was actually thinking about creating a website and posting pictures of our "finished" house and the quality but had some questions and looking for a little guidance.

1. Website name - can I name it www.avoidXXXXXXconstruction.com or would I have to stay away from that or something like www.carefulwhenchoosingXXXXXXconstruction.com ?

2. Is a website any different from a blog or something a critic would post? Would I have to wordsmith it to say "I feel like the construction quality was poor" instead of "the construction quality was poor"?

3. Are there any issues with posting pictures of the home itself as examples?

 

[army judge]

I can take hours writing about our home build experience...but even after numerous combat deployments I can say this last year has been the worst and most stressful of my life. On top of that, our builder left us with a "custom" house that was 90% complete with finishes and attention to detail worse that your cookie cutter track homes. He has not paid a number of his subs forcing us to pay and doesn't come back to fix items he was supposed to. He still has about $16,000 in repairs to the tile, roof, etc that I know he will never finish and owes us more than $10,000 in credits that we had to give up and call even. Long story short, I would like to steer people away from using him to the max extent possible. BBB and other places like it are worthless when it comes to having any effect on a business and was actually thinking about creating a website and posting pictures of our "finished" house and the quality but had some questions and looking for a little guidance.

1. Website name - can I name it www.avoidXXXXXXconstruction.com or would I have to stay away from that or something like www.carefulwhenchoosingXXXXXXconstruction.com ?

2. Is a website any different from a blog or something a critic would post? Would I have to wordsmith it to say "I feel like the construction quality was poor" instead of "the construction quality was poor"?

3. Are there any issues with posting pictures of the home itself as examples?

Do yourself a favor, don't post anything about your ordeal, anywhere.

If you believe you are owed money, take the contractor to small claims court (if the amount in question doesn't exceed $5,000), otherwise talk to a lawyer and take the contractor to court.

Read your contract, because that usually determines if you can sue in court, or have agreed to go to moderation.

Anything to say in court is protected speech.

Somethings you might post on the internet might not be protected speech.

If you paid the subs WITHOUT speaking to your lawyer, that action might have been premature on yoru part.

Read what the FL Bar has to say about such predicaments:

The Subcontract Contingent Payment Clause: How Does It Affect the Construction Industry?

Be careful citizen, be very careful.

 

[zddoodah]

Website name - can I name it www.avoidXXXXXXconstruction.com or would I have to stay away from that or something like www.carefulwhenchoosingXXXXXXconstruction.com ?

There's no appreciable difference.

Is a website any different from a blog or something a critic would post?

This is sort of like asking if fruit is "any different from" apple juice. A website is a collection of related pages on the World Wide Web. A blog or "something a critic would post" may appear at a website, but websites obviously include myriad other things.

Would I have to wordsmith it to say "I feel like the construction quality was poor" instead of "the construction quality was poor"?

There's no appreciable difference between the two statements.

Are there any issues with posting pictures of the home itself as examples?

As long as you're the photographer or otherwise own the copyrights to the photos or have a license from the copyright owner.

If you believe you are owed money, take the contractor to small claims court (if the amount in question doesn't exceed $5,000), otherwise talk to a lawyer and take the contractor to court.

Read your contract, because that usually determines if you can sue in court, or have agreed to go to moderation.

Assuming "moderation" was intended to be arbitration or mediation, I agree with all of this.

 

[gunshipflyer]

Do yourself a favor, don't post anything about your ordeal, anywhere.

If you believe you are owed money, take the contractor to small claims court (if the amount in question doesn't exceed $5,000), otherwise talk to a lawyer and take the contractor to court.

Read your contract, because that usually determines if you can sue in court, or have agreed to go to moderation.

Anything to say in court is protected speech.

Somethings you might post on the internet might not be protected speech.

If you paid the subs WITHOUT speaking to your lawyer, that action might have been premature on yoru part.

Read what the FL Bar has to say about such predicaments:

The Subcontract Contingent Payment Clause: How Does It Affect the Construction Industry?

Be careful citizen, be very careful.

Thanks Army Judge.. I've tried to make sure our basis is covered as far as subs go and payment. We've paid them because we are trying to do right by them. And we are not after money at this point.. we've pretty much written it off and are too tired to fight and go through a court battle at this point. We're just frustrated that he gets to continue on his way being the person he is. Is there no legal way to spread the word effectively aside from bs reviews, and reports to BBB that essentially do nothing? Had I known a year ago what I know now I would have decided to not build a house entirely rather than build with this GC. I've always been one to judge and be judged based on work ethic, quality of work, etc. If I don't want to be looked at as a lazy sack... then I need to perform and conduct myself as such. If I do perform poorly then I would not be surprised for people's opinions of me to reflect that poor performance.

 

[army judge]

Is there no legal way to spread the word effectively aside from bs reviews, and reports to BBB that essentially do nothing?

There are apps like "yelp" & "Google Introducing Google Customer Reviews - Google Merchant Center Help that allow people to express their opinions.

Be careful when you express your opinion of facts (things you can prove, if you are sued).

If the business is licensed, you are always free to file a complaint with the state or city licensing agency or bureau. Not paying his subs would be a big deal in most states.

The city or county building department can also assist you with defect remediation, and those agencies have a complaint & resolution process.

 

[ElleMD]

Creating a website to rant about this guy is pretty much pointless. While you can state anything that is true if you start interfering with his ability to do business, you can find yourself in hot water. Even if you ultimately prevail, you are talking years and $$$$. If you must, you can write a review on Yelp or similar site, and or report it to the BBB. I'd stick to verifiable facts, or just the basics; that you were not happy with the work performed and they were difficult to get a hold of and ran behind schedule/over budget (or whatever).