The bills are in the builders name and he never finished the house.
He disappeared right after closing and we have only spoken to him once over the phone.
We excepted the fact it wasn't going to get finished and left it at that.
He called tonight and said he was getting calls from contractors looking for their money and that he was going to give them our phone number and we could deal with it.
2006-09-18 16:52:16 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
The bills were $20,000 plus.
2006-09-18 16:53:47 · update #1
Get an attorney. If you paid the builder, but he did not pay the contractors that worked on their home, they may put a lien on your home. If you ever decide to sell the home, those liens will have to be satisfied before you can get clear title.
2006-09-18 16:56:01 · answer #1 · answered by Anne 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's a tricky issue....The big question is did you pay all the money owed to the builder at closing and did they agree to that being the final sum?
This sounds like you need to get a lawyer involved because the builder hasn't paid his subs. By law he is not allowed to give out your name and phone number to these people because they did not work for you...they worked for him and he is repsonsible for paying them, not you. The problem is, the subs may have the right to place a lien on your property to try and get those funds, unless you can prove that he has in fact been paid in full for services rendered and for the services they rendered under the contract
If he has not finished the project and you have withheld funds on those grounds then you need to tell him to complete the job as specified and you will pay the remaining amount in his contract, no more and no less and you will only pay him the funds owed...not his subs and you will only pay him once the house has been inspected by a professional home inspector to ensure the job was completed properly.
If he is unwilling to complete the work, tell him you'll hire someone else to do the work and any amount over and above what is left owed to him in his contract for the same, you will bill to him and you'll have your lawyer contact him soon.
Get a lawyer who deals in this field and they will be a great help to you.
2006-09-18 17:02:45 · answer #2 · answered by Lauren 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You're going to need to get an attorney.
Did the contractor have a completion bond? Did you sign a release of that bond even though the work was not complete? If he did and you didn't, contact the bonding company and they'll take care of the unpaid subs.
If he didn't have a bond, shame on you for not insisting on one! Ditto if he did and you signed off on completion where that wasn't true.
Those subs are entitled to payment and they will go after you for payment and place a mechanic's lien on your home if you don't pay up. You'll have to go after the contractor for the money; but that's a separate issue.
2006-09-18 17:10:03 · answer #3 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Bostonian is right.
2006-09-19 02:20:22 · answer #4 · answered by BoomChikkaBoom 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He or She did the job, yes you have to pay.
2006-09-18 17:00:49 · answer #5 · answered by Diana 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋