Who is responsible for the payment

coral101

New Member
Hello, I have a question regarding who is responsible for this payment.
I had two contractors working on my house. One was for remodeling, and the other was for working on the siding. Due the space limitations on my driveway, I suggested for the contractor who worked on the siding to share a dumpster with the one focused on the remodeling. I suggested this to both contractors, and we were able to come to an agreement on the phone. During this conversation, the contractor who worked on the siding agreed to pay the fee.
Originally, the remodeling contractor included this fee in our invoice, but we told him to talk to the siding contractor directly per our previous agreement. Before we gave the final payment to the remodeling contractor, he informed us that he was able to get into contact with the siding contractor and said that the siding contractor will pay him. However now, after a month and a half has passed, the remodeling contractor emailed us telling us that he has not received the check from the siding contractor. In this email, he told us that this issue is our responsibility and heavily implied that we should pay for the dumpster fee for the siding contractor.
Am I responsible for this fee, or is this something the two contractors should settle by themselves?
Thank you.
 
Am I responsible for this fee, or is this something the two contractors should settle by themselves?

NOTE TO FORUM: THE JURISDICTION IN THIS MATTER is SC.

Your financial responsibility should have been revealed in the written contracts agreed upon by you and the contractors.

If the written contracts were with your insurance carrier, I suggest you instruct the contractors to speak with the insurer's representative.

You could also seek guidance from your insurer, if one is involved.

Otherwise, read the contracts you signed.

If you commissioned the work without a written contract, this is precisely WHY one should have signed the contract(s) before allowing any work to occur.

Absent a contract, you must now seek to reach a mutually acceptable conclusion for all parties.

If consensus can't be achieved THE MAGNIFICENT CORNBALL LAWYER predicts a small claims appearance (or two) in your future.
 
The person who rented the dumpster is the one obligated to pay.
The real question is about reimbursement.
Given that this was done for work on your property it seems reasonable the cost should be directed to you.
Just curious... Given the circumstances why do you not feel responsible for the cost?
 
Before we gave the final payment to the remodeling contractor, he informed us that he was able to get into contact with the siding contractor and said that the siding contractor will pay him.

And you relied on what one contractor told you without verifying it with the other contractor.

You pay.
 
But I have already paid for my part of the dumpster fee. The dumpster fee that the siding contractor owes the remodeling contractor is separate from the original contract that I had signed with the remodeling contractor. In the final agreement, the remodeling contractor agreed to split the dumpster invoice between me and the siding contractor. I have already paid for my part, and now he is asking for me to pay the siding contractor's part as well. It seems unfair to me that I have to pay for the siding contractor because the two contractors had come to an agreement together that they would settle the payment with each other.
 
But I have already paid for my part of the dumpster fee. The dumpster fee that the siding contractor owes the remodeling contractor is separate from the original contract that I had signed with the remodeling contractor. In the final agreement, the remodeling contractor agreed to split the dumpster invoice between me and the siding contractor. I have already paid for my part, and now he is asking for me to pay the siding contractor's part as well. It seems unfair to me that I have to pay for the siding contractor because the two contractors had come to an agreement together that they would settle the payment with each other.

But it's fair that the remodeling contractor should get stuck with the unpaid amount? YOU are responsible. YOU pay it then go after the siding contractor.
 
I have already paid for my part, and now he is asking for me to pay the siding contractor's part as well.


What is the cost for the entire period the dumpster was used?

What did you pay?

How much did the one contractor pay?

What is the amount alleged you owe?

Before this becomes MORE complicated than it needs to be, it is very often easier to dispose of the matter by paying a nominal sum rather than arguing over the nominal sum.
 
It seems unfair to me that I have to pay for the siding contractor because the two contractors had come to an agreement together that they would settle the payment with each other.

You say so.

The siding contractor says no.

You have no evidence of the agreement.

Fair is where you go on rides and eat cotton candy.

With contracts you get it in writing.
 
But I have already paid for my part of the dumpster fee. The dumpster fee that the siding contractor owes the remodeling contractor is separate from the original contract that I had signed with the remodeling contractor. In the final agreement, the remodeling contractor agreed to split the dumpster invoice between me and the siding contractor. I have already paid for my part, and now he is asking for me to pay the siding contractor's part as well. It seems unfair to me that I have to pay for the siding contractor because the two contractors had come to an agreement together that they would settle the payment with each other.
What state?
 
You say so.

The siding contractor says no.

You have no evidence of the agreement.

No. The OP does have evidence of the agreement. His own testimony is evidence, as would be the testimony of the other contractor that participated in the conversation. As I pointed out on the other site where this was asked, subject to what I discuss in the next paragraph, if the siding contractor agreed to pay for it then generally he is the one that must pay for it. If it went to small claims court it would come down to which side was the more persuasive in convincing the judge as to what the deal was. It is not automatic that the OP would lose on that.

There is the extra hurdle for the OP that if there was a written contract between the parties that addressed this cost and the conversation would therefore be an oral modification to that written contract then in most cases the oral modification is not enforceable as modifications to written contracts must also typically be in writing, too. So in that circumstance the OP may be stuck. But we don't have the facts here to know if that rule might apply.


With contracts you get it in writing.

Certainly a written contract makes enforcement easier. But oral contracts are enforced all the time. It's just harder to convince the court of the terms of the agreement without a writing.
 
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