Excessive House Plan Charges

[bendix]

What is the name of your state? NC

My wife and I were working with a local contractor and had our house plans drawn through him. He told us the plans would cost between 500.00 & 700.00 dollars.
We decided not to use this contractor because of some other issues, but still wanted the plans. We received a bill for
$1366.00. which is double what we thought it would be.
We have nothing in writing reflecting what we were originally told, and we do not have the plans. Also, we never signed anything.
Should we just pay this and move forward, or is there something we can do?
What if we pay 700.00 regardless if we get the plans back or not? Can they sue us for the total bill even though we never signed anything and do not have the plans? Basically it's our word against theirs, and we feel like were lied to.

Thank you

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? NC

My wife and I were working with a local contractor and had our house plans drawn through him. He told us the plans would cost between 500.00 & 700.00 dollars.
We decided not to use this contractor because of some other issues, but still wanted the plans. We received a bill for
$1366.00. which is double what we thought it would be.
We have nothing in writing reflecting what we were originally told, and we do not have the plans. Also, we never signed anything.
Should we just pay this and move forward, or is there something we can do?
What if we pay 700.00 regardless if we get the plans back or not? Can they sue us for the total bill even though we never signed anything and do not have the plans? Basically it's our word against theirs, and we feel like were lied to.

Thank you

**A: the first rule is always have a written contract. I know we have not heard the complete story. Pay the planmaker and chalk it up as paying for a lesson. By the way, who actually drew the plans? Was it a state registered architect or engineer?

 

[bendix]

Basically, the complete story is he kept changing the pricing of our house when our budget was made clear to him. The price started out very fair, then increased as he and the architect worked on the plans. He also changed our siding from Western Red Cedar to Hardi-board without consulting with us. I think he quoted us too low, then tried to weasle his way out of it. Anyway, my wife and I lost trust in him.

This contractor works with a guy who draws out of his house. I'm not sure if he is state registered, but he had good references. Also his drawings pass our county's codes, which are very strict. I'll try to find out if he is registered or not.

You are right about chalking it up...We are not the kind of people to leave a debt unpaid, but 1366.00 is a hard lesson to swallow!!

 

[HomeGuru]

The reason that I asked about the architect is because architects have lien rights so even if you failed to pay the contractor, the architect could file a lien against your real property.

 

[bendix]

I was wondering if they could do that. I believe the contractor has already paid the architect, though.
Thank you for your help.

 

[HomeGuru]

Ok, good luck.