What is the name of your state? CA
Wow, let's see if I can do long story short... A cabinet guy says he's a manufacturer because he doesn't do install or delivery. I didn't know that when I signed the contract and gave him a $10k deposit. The contract says he will "furnish the materials and perform the labor necessary for the completion of all cabinets...".
I got a call from some attorney I've never heard of, stating that the cabinet guy has three lawsuits pending against him and my name showed up on a list of customers that have left deposits and not received any cabinets. I call the cabinet guy and he offers my deposit back. Bingo, I accept his offer and back it up with a letter claiming I'm accepting it. He doesn't pay claiming he needs time to liquidate my materials. I give him 60+ days he still doesn't pay.
He says he purchased lumber even after my wife and I qualified him before giving him a deposit by specifically asking if he was going to spend the money on lumber... his answer, "no I'm going to use it on Blum hardware, their prices are going up soon and I want to stock up".
To complicate matters, his attorney says I'm extorting him because I told the attorney that I had an incident report, was going to file a police report, and take the matter to the DA on top of pursuing him civilly, claiming that it wasn't in my nature to take that route and that I just wanted my money back... my exact words, "I just want my money back and I'll go away". He immediately said, "that's extortion" and I said, "I'm not trying to extort you, I'm just being honest with you about what actions I'll be forced to take if we dont' get this matter resolved".
Options? If I go to the DA, he'll pursue his extortion claim. If I go to Superior court, I'll have a 15 month wait. If I go to small claims I'll have to settle for $7500 if all goes well and I still have to collect from either him personally, or his corp (which is how he's set up).
His promises to pay are getting old. His latest promise to call me every three days with an update expired yesterday.
Wow, let's see if I can do long story short... A cabinet guy says he's a manufacturer because he doesn't do install or delivery. I didn't know that when I signed the contract and gave him a $10k deposit. The contract says he will "furnish the materials and perform the labor necessary for the completion of all cabinets...".
I got a call from some attorney I've never heard of, stating that the cabinet guy has three lawsuits pending against him and my name showed up on a list of customers that have left deposits and not received any cabinets. I call the cabinet guy and he offers my deposit back. Bingo, I accept his offer and back it up with a letter claiming I'm accepting it. He doesn't pay claiming he needs time to liquidate my materials. I give him 60+ days he still doesn't pay.
He says he purchased lumber even after my wife and I qualified him before giving him a deposit by specifically asking if he was going to spend the money on lumber... his answer, "no I'm going to use it on Blum hardware, their prices are going up soon and I want to stock up".
To complicate matters, his attorney says I'm extorting him because I told the attorney that I had an incident report, was going to file a police report, and take the matter to the DA on top of pursuing him civilly, claiming that it wasn't in my nature to take that route and that I just wanted my money back... my exact words, "I just want my money back and I'll go away". He immediately said, "that's extortion" and I said, "I'm not trying to extort you, I'm just being honest with you about what actions I'll be forced to take if we dont' get this matter resolved".
Options? If I go to the DA, he'll pursue his extortion claim. If I go to Superior court, I'll have a 15 month wait. If I go to small claims I'll have to settle for $7500 if all goes well and I still have to collect from either him personally, or his corp (which is how he's set up).
His promises to pay are getting old. His latest promise to call me every three days with an update expired yesterday.