Turfmonster
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tennessee
A contractor is billing more hours than they worked, among other issues. Requests for simple information such as arrival/departure times have been refused/ignored and discussions about other issues weren't much better. I can prove that they did not work what they're claiming. Civil discourse has failed and given their tack, it seems unlikely anything else will either, and they recently referred it to a local law firm who sent a collection letter and I recently notified them that I disputed the debt (within 30 days) and haven't yet heard anything else. I've paid for the work they did, so they're just trying to collect the extra they're fraudulently claiming. I'm curious what my options are in two cases:
1) They try to get a judgment in a very timely fashion- am I allowed to dispute the invoice at whatever this hearing is (there's no chance they can prove it accurate), or do I have to initiate some separate process where that would be considered? In either case, since they're wasting my time and doing whatever claiming a false debt counts as (among other things), is there anything I can ask for compensation-wise at that hearing assuming I win (the amount in dispute is not enough to hire a lawyer)?
2) They don't admit they're wrong/notify me they're dropping it/whatever but simply sit on it and do nothing- In this case, this is hanging over my head and sitting on my credit report for 7 years and they can file at any time? Given that I have a strong case to prove fraudulent billing (as well as some other wrongdoing), is there some kind of "**** or get off the pot" action I can file/threaten to file to get it over with one way or the other, and if so, what can I ask for? The monetary damages are fairly small, the time wasted and the stress of dealing with it are something, but given that I have a pretty good shot of proving they're knowingly trying to collect a non-debt, can I (threaten to) ask for punitive damages as well or anything else that would really get their attention? How much, ballpark?
A contractor is billing more hours than they worked, among other issues. Requests for simple information such as arrival/departure times have been refused/ignored and discussions about other issues weren't much better. I can prove that they did not work what they're claiming. Civil discourse has failed and given their tack, it seems unlikely anything else will either, and they recently referred it to a local law firm who sent a collection letter and I recently notified them that I disputed the debt (within 30 days) and haven't yet heard anything else. I've paid for the work they did, so they're just trying to collect the extra they're fraudulently claiming. I'm curious what my options are in two cases:
1) They try to get a judgment in a very timely fashion- am I allowed to dispute the invoice at whatever this hearing is (there's no chance they can prove it accurate), or do I have to initiate some separate process where that would be considered? In either case, since they're wasting my time and doing whatever claiming a false debt counts as (among other things), is there anything I can ask for compensation-wise at that hearing assuming I win (the amount in dispute is not enough to hire a lawyer)?
2) They don't admit they're wrong/notify me they're dropping it/whatever but simply sit on it and do nothing- In this case, this is hanging over my head and sitting on my credit report for 7 years and they can file at any time? Given that I have a strong case to prove fraudulent billing (as well as some other wrongdoing), is there some kind of "**** or get off the pot" action I can file/threaten to file to get it over with one way or the other, and if so, what can I ask for? The monetary damages are fairly small, the time wasted and the stress of dealing with it are something, but given that I have a pretty good shot of proving they're knowingly trying to collect a non-debt, can I (threaten to) ask for punitive damages as well or anything else that would really get their attention? How much, ballpark?