breach of contract

[tmoran]

What is the name of your state?
New York

I gave a contractor $11,000 downpayment last fall to get into his schedule for mid-june of this year. in the meantime, my company has had a very bad year and my salary, as of february, took a substantial cut. i am therefore not in a position to go ahead with the job. i basically have to remortgage again and give back the money i took out to do this contruction--approximately $180,000. I explained this to the contractor in February. he was not happy--in fact he was belligerent. i have spent the last month or so seeing what i can afford, how much i can remortgage, etc. in the end, all i can afford is a scaled-down job that would cost about 1/3 of the original esitimate. the contractor says it's too small, i am breach and he'll see me in court. again, belligerent and confrontational. he has done not one bit of work at this point related to the job, yet has had my $11.000 for 5 or 6 months. i understand his position but you can't get blood out of a stone. i can't do the job, gave him plenty of notice, and offered to put the $11,000 downpayment towards the substantially reduced job. he wants to hear none of it--hung up on me last night. any thoughts about what my options are?

tm

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state?
New York

I gave a contractor $11,000 downpayment last fall to get into his schedule for mid-june of this year. in the meantime, my company has had a very bad year and my salary, as of february, took a substantial cut. i am therefore not in a position to go ahead with the job. i basically have to remortgage again and give back the money i took out to do this contruction--approximately $180,000. I explained this to the contractor in February. he was not happy--in fact he was belligerent. i have spent the last month or so seeing what i can afford, how much i can remortgage, etc. in the end, all i can afford is a scaled-down job that would cost about 1/3 of the original esitimate. the contractor says it's too small, i am breach and he'll see me in court. again, belligerent and confrontational. he has done not one bit of work at this point related to the job, yet has had my $11.000 for 5 or 6 months. i understand his position but you can't get blood out of a stone. i can't do the job, gave him plenty of notice, and offered to put the $11,000 downpayment towards the substantially reduced job. he wants to hear none of it--hung up on me last night. any thoughts about what my options are?

**A: hire an attorney to review your contract and advise you accordingly.
tm

 

[tmoran]

already did, and the contract is more a statement of work than a contract. what he's to do, prices and some biolerplate. lawyer said it was not much of a contract. no specifics. he said there might be some case law to deal with. just wondering if anyone's had any similar experiences. thanks for the the quick response, though.

tm

 

[HomeGuru]

already did, and the contract is more a statement of work than a contract. what he's to do, prices and some biolerplate. lawyer said it was not much of a contract. no specifics. he said there might be some case law to deal with. just wondering if anyone's had any similar experiences. thanks for the the quick response, though.

tm

**A: sorry, we cannot help you further.

 

[r35465]

I just read the "expert replies/advice" to your problem from the "experts" on this site. All I can say is WOW. That is some great advice. Are they kidding? You took the time to register on this site and write a long, articulate, detailed scenario and that is all they come up with? Unbelievable.

 

[tmoran]

my sentiments exactly. my gas station attendant could have told me that. actually working with a real lawyer now. waste of time.

tm

 

[buzzards27]

Reasons for lack of help...

Nobody is going to offer you advice BECAUSE you have an attorney. They don't what you to second guess your attorney. Their advice might be different than that attorney.

Nobody is going to offer you advice on a contract they cannot see.

 

[r35465]

Buzzards27-

Your explanation is appreciated, but not entirely accurate. The original post never said he had an attorney and the advice he received was to get an attorney. Does anyone really believe that the advice he was looking for was to get an attorney?!?

That's why we're here asking questions- hiring an attorney comes with it's own risks (not knowing who to hire, not knowing who you can trust, the high expense, etc) and that is why we are asking for a bit of advice before hiring someone!!!!!

Anyway, I am convinced that the majority of "advice" on this site is not worth much.

 

[tmoran]

not to belabor this, but i agree r35465--i knew an attorney might eventually be needed. but look at the string at the top: FreeAdvice<REAL ESTATE LAW, etc. so i was asking if anyone had any legal-type experience or advice with this kind of problem. or what are some questions to ask, or what are some of the things that others have gone through. whatever. free is free. i've done my own research and with the help of a lawyer hope to get my money back. if anyone's interested, i'll post what happens when this situation is resolved.

tm

 

[buzzards27]

tmoran;

When you answer a question you need to be specific. When you read the whole thread your replies suggest you retained an attorney. HomeGuru suggested that you: "**A: hire an attorney to review your contract and advise you accordingly." Your reply was:"already did, and the contract..." To anyone reading your reply to HomeGuru it would appear that you hired an attorney.

Again, because contracts vary greatly it is impossible for someone to give specific advice without seeing the contract. That, I think, is why you were advised to seek council.

Personally, I would work something out with the builder short of filing suit. If he hasn't done any work, hasn't had down time, and hasn't expended your money on services, rentals, tools or materials to be used on your job he should return it all.

tmoran and r35465;

I agree that there is a real problem with the advise offered on this site. Some people offering advise here should be in straightjackets instead of passing themselves off as lawyers.

 

[HomeGuru]

tmoran;

When you answer a question you need to be specific. When you read the whole thread your replies suggest you retained an attorney. HomeGuru suggested that you: "**A: hire an attorney to review your contract and advise you accordingly." Your reply was:"already did, and the contract..." To anyone reading your reply to HomeGuru it would appear that you hired an attorney.

HomeGuru response: I agree with buzzard here.
********

Again, because contracts vary greatly it is impossible for someone to give specific advice without seeing the contract. That, I think, is why you were advised to seek council.

**A: my point exactly. If one reads the posts from the writer of this thread, it is obviouys that the contract was not a standard construction type contract but a hokey homemade one. Thus, there is no way anyone on this website could provide advice without first reviewing the terms and conditions in said contract.
Using a simple contract (possibly favoring the contractor), not having an attorney review and paying $11K up front was not too smart. further, the writer's mortgage financing problems create greater complexity to the issues.
*********

Personally, I would work something out with the builder short of filing suit. If he hasn't done any work, hasn't had down time, and hasn't expended your money on services, rentals, tools or materials to be used on your job he should return it all.

**A: I agree but from the post, the contractor is taking a hard stand.
*******

tmoran and r35465;

I agree that there is a real problem with the advise offered on this site. Some people offering advise here should be in straightjackets instead of passing themselves off as lawyers.

**A: Maybe that could be the title of the next Phil Collins CD, " No Straightjacket Required"

 

[HomeGuru]

my sentiments exactly. my gas station attendant could have told me that. actually working with a real lawyer now. waste of time.

tm

**A: that's just great tmoron. I am sure your real lawyer will give you the real facts that you were real smart in not following the proper procedure in hiring a contractor as provided by the NY Consumer Protection Office.