Contractor delay work issue, no agreement

[vagredcn]

A project to switch radiators to forced air system in Chicago, IL. I paid $5,000 down payment to get it started before we signed any kind of agreement. The project takes about two weeks. The contractor (Mark) delayed the job for two months. I finally changed contractor. The new contractor (Jack) estimated that everything he has done is worth about $1500. Mark refused to send me the receipt of equipment and material, and said that I shouldn't pay what he paid for the equipment, meaning that I should pay a higher retail price, and I only have a refund due of $1200. All I have is email and text conversations and pictures of the work done. I might get price of furnace from a market place like Home Depot. It doesn't seem worth it to get a lawyer involved for and extra $2000 refund. Do I have any options? Can I win in a small court claim with what I have? Thank you!

 

[justalayman]

so, what kind of contract did you end up signing with Mark? Does it specify a date of completion? Does it impose some sort of penalty if the date isn't met?

Has Mark given you a reason he had not completed the project?




and no, you should not expect to pay the wholesale price your contractor pays for materials.

 

[vagredcn]

No, we don't have any contract in place yet when I paid him. I followed up many times, but he never sent anything. He said that he couldn't find the guy who works for him, but that's after many times of attempting to get hold of him and he finally called me from Canada.

 

[justalayman]

No, we don't have any contract in place yet when I paid him. I followed up many times, but he never sent anything. He said that he couldn't find the guy who works for him, but that's after many times of attempting to get hold of him and he finally called me from Canada.

you surely have some contract lest you wouldn't be where you are now. I wrote my question as I did as I was trying to ascertain whether it be a verbal or written contract.

So, the problem you have is Mark is willing to terminate the contract in place but of course he wants to be paid for work already performed and materials already provided. Determining the value can be difficult and it is made much more difficult with nothing in writing.

The problem with using the new contractor to evaluate the share of work done is; he has a vested interest in the outcome. As an example: if Mark claims 90% finished and new guy claims it was only 10%, well, using marks numbers new guy is really limited to what he can charge without looking like he is robbing you. If you use new guys number of 10%, since you had agreed to $5000 with Mark, well, no problem charging at least the remainder of that ($4500) but of course there is reworking the terrible terrible work Mark did which will add to the cost and such.

He has a vested interest in determining how much work is actually completed.

and now that he called you from Canada; what do you know about Mark? Is he actually local enough to make it worth suing him?

The problem is; how do you get a fair determination of work completed and value of materials already provided. If the guy doing the work now is reputable in the business community, it helps if he is the only one you have estimating the value of the work but his estimate is surely not above being contested. Given this is not a huge amount I would simply ask the new guy to be as accurate as he can be with his numbers and use that hoping for the best. Since Mark has already agreed he owed you something, not its up to you to prove that was not enough. Only you can determine if the time and trouble to get a judgement AND THEN collect on the judgment is worth it to you.

Small claims is often a bit loose so you might be able to win on what you have. Only the judge can say for sure.


and along with that; are you checking out these contractors to make sure they have any licenses required by the state or locality? How about being bonded should they damage something or not complete the work or anything else a bond can be used for? Proper insurances?

Make sure you check out whomever you hire to do the work. While the Mark situation may not be the result of a scammer, there are plenty of them out there that are. Protect yourself as much as you can when hiring work done.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Further, if your contract had no termination clause, completion date or completion penalty, you could be on the hook for the entire profit in the contract, plus materials already used.