Contractor Failed to Finish Job - Still wants to be paid in full.

[Redog]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Nebraska.
What laws protect a homeowner when a contractor abandons a job. Contractor hired after insurance loss. They were pd for mitigation thru ins co. Contractor failed to provide me with an estimate and contract prior to starting work. When I learned they were in the house at 2:30 pm, I stopped the work. After reviewing what they claimed to be an estimate (insurance summary) and the quality of their work I addressed concerns with them. Their response was to pull their tools and abandon the job. I had to find a second contractor to finish the job. They want to be paid for a complete job. Charges include items already paid for by ins co., charges for work not agreed to, and allowances by ins co for work performed by me the policy holder. Not to mention I paid someone else to repair damage to my house and property created by them. I have tried mediation through NE AG's Office to no avail. I now have a summons for Civil court, they want more money now, interest, attorneys fees etc. What are my options. Thank you! What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

[justalayman]

was there a contract with this guy?

[Redog]

There was no contract in place. The entered the house sometime in the morning and notified me at 2:30 in the afternoon that they had an Authorization form for me to sign. They were not given permission to enter the house. The garage door had been left unlocked 4 days prior as they asked to deliver materials.

[justalayman]

The garage door had been left unlocked 4 days prior as they asked to deliver materials.

there had to have been some sort of contract if they are delivering material and you are leaving doors unlocked to allow the delivery.

[Cedrus]

Probably the contractor is licensed in NE. Contact the state contractor's licensing board and ask them to investigate.

Have you seen the written contract between your insurance company and this contractor? What does it say? And what is "mitigation" ?

Did you get a copy of the "insurance summary" ?

[justalayman]

mitigation is taking action to prevent further damage or injury.

I do not know what the sitaution with our OP is but as an expample:

if there were a fire, mitigation would be things like securing the property to avoid rain coming in or vandalism. Roofs would be repaired or temp covered to prevent water intrusion.

[weatheresistant]

My husband and I have a similar problem in New Jersey. We contracted a job where only a weathertight shell was supposed to be constructed. The construction is a disaster and the contractor also wants to be paid in full. He hired an attorney to scare us and when we replied with a 5 page letter of all the things we were unhappy with, we never heard from him again. We learned that he's been sued 5 times since then and if we wouldn't have paid him almost in full, we would have been included in that 5. My husband is now quite ill with diabetes and we are left with half a house and it's been almost 5 years that we've been living this way. The one that is suffering the most is my 12 year old daughter. We are also looking for help. I wish you and your family best of luck in getting this settled.