What is the name of your state?
California
My husband and I hired an "architect" to draw up plans for a two story additon to our house. After 2 1/2 years, he still hadn't finished the plans due to medical problems. Since we had already paid him for various phases and he was almost done, we didn't want to lose that money and start over with someone else. We finally told him we no longer wished to do business with him and requested all our money back. After receiving our letter, he finished the plans and sent them to us in the mail. We have not opened them yet to see if they really are finished. He told us they were finished a year ago and we submitted them to the city for a permit. We were denied a permit 3 times because he made various errors and when he attempted to complete the corrections, he didn't do them correctly. Each time he has made corrections, we've had to have recalculations done by a structural engineer which has cost us more and more money. He has had a list of corrections to complete for almost a year and had not completed them until we sent the letter to him telling him we wanted our money back. We never stated a time frame for completion in our contract, but I think 3 years is a little excessive. I sent a letter to him stating that we would be sueing him in small claims court. He responded back stating that he has no money, is on welfare, and his part of the job is done. What should we do now?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.What is the name of your state?
California
My husband and I hired an "architect" to draw up plans for a two story additon to our house. After 2 1/2 years, he still hadn't finished the plans due to medical problems. Since we had already paid him for various phases and he was almost done, we didn't want to lose that money and start over with someone else. We finally told him we no longer wished to do business with him and requested all our money back. After receiving our letter, he finished the plans and sent them to us in the mail. We have not opened them yet to see if they really are finished. He told us they were finished a year ago and we submitted them to the city for a permit. We were denied a permit 3 times because he made various errors and when he attempted to complete the corrections, he didn't do them correctly. Each time he has made corrections, we've had to have recalculations done by a structural engineer which has cost us more and more money. He has had a list of corrections to complete for almost a year and had not completed them until we sent the letter to him telling him we wanted our money back. We never stated a time frame for completion in our contract, but I think 3 years is a little excessive. I sent a letter to him stating that we would be sueing him in small claims court. He responded back stating that he has no money, is on welfare, and his part of the job is done. What should we do now?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.What is the name of your state?