What can you do when a contractor defaults on a renovation project ?

Answer 1

Your remedy will depend, in large part, on your contract documents. What does your contract say about such an eventuality? That will be the first and most important evidence in the event of litigation. Like most of us, you probably entered into an informal agreement that does not clearly delineate the preformance of the contractor. If this is the case, we need to be analytical, vs. emotional, to come out as financially whole as possible.

In my state (Florida) the payment of vendors is virtually assured through the Mechanic's Lien Law. You probably have a similar law in your state, and now would be a good time to download and become familiar with it. Matters of asthetics (sloppy work) don't carry nearly as much weight as the concept of "substantial completion". In other words, someone can legally do work that looks like crap, but if it's "done" they can succesfully prosecute a mechanic's lien to force payment. Without knowing the particulars of your case, I can just about guarantee this is at least part of the problem.

What I would do in your case is to get three bids to wrap it up according to your original contract. Gather up all your documents, including the bids, and visit an attorney that specializes in contstruction litigation. During your initial consultation, they will be able to tell you if the cost of litigation makes financial sense. If so, be prepared for a long stretch of some potentially unpleasant times. In an ideal scenario, your contractor will behave himself when your attorney asserts your position, and you can reach an equitable settlement.

I would immediatly file a complaint with the state contractor's licensing professional regulatory agency. Their investigation might povoke a very quick response. I would further inform the better business bureau in your area, to alert other consumers of his trade practices.

It may be, at the end of the day, that there simply is no good answer to the case of the bad contractor and you are left to pick up the pieces. I hope for your sake this is not so. In any event, I wish you well. On your next project, be certain to include an attorney in the contract documents. This is one construction cost that is a bargain.

Good luck and God bless you!

Answer 2

At least in the short term, your probably going to be out some money. If you have made payments to your contractor as work has progressed, you could have paid him more then the net worth of the work he's done.
You will obviously have to hire a new contractor to finish the work left by your original contractor. You can then take the contractor to court to try to recover any additional costs you incurred. If this is a significant amount, you may want to consult a lawyer before you contract the second contractor.

Answer 3

Not much...depends on whether you had a written contract or not and where you live. Here we have a tv show just about scoundrel contractors and the mess they leave behind. The devastated home owners rarely can do anything about getting them charged. However, there was a case recently of a number of people giving deposits and no work done. The contractor was fined.

Answer 4

"Default" is on a contract, not a project! What agreement do you have, and is it really clear that the contractor has failed to do what he promised?

Best practice is to seek to negotiate, giving contractor room/time to pay up or make good on the work, and keeping up pressure by implied threat to sue. Worst scenario is all-out pissing contest where only the lawyers win.

Answer 5

You first send a letter to the contractor. Keep a copy for your records.

You contact the better business bureau if you don't like the response. They have mediators on call that handle just this sort of thing.

You contact the attorney general's office if the BBB can't help you out.

In that order.

Answer 6

Take him to The Peoples Court or Judge Judy

Answer 7

take him to court for breach of contract. Or hire someone to finish the work that he failed to perform under his contract and backcharge him for unsatisfactory completion of project. This is all assuming he is under contract. If not, you have a much more complex problem.

Answer 8

well you can take him to Court and report him to the better business bureau remember to take pictures

Answer 9

Cry