Contractor help

What is the name of your state? Tennessee
Not sure if this is the place for this question, but here goes. We hired a contractor in November 2007 to fix our roof, chimney, gutters, paint, etc....They showed up and almost finished....December 5th is the last time we saw them. We have called and left messages. The contractor will not answer our calls when we call from our phones (he will from a # he doesn't recognize). Unfortunatley my husband paid him in full the last day he was here. Anyway, the contractor has left his trailer with all the scrap wood in it at our house in our front yard!

I don't know what our recourse is. My husband says he will now finish the job himself, but that makes me mad because we have paid this contractor to do the whole job. We do have a receipt listing all the items the contractor was suppose to fix/do. As it is 1/27/2008 now, how long do we have to wait to do anything? And is there anything we can do? Can we sell this contractor's trailer to recoup the money that we paid him? I am so aggravated!

I'm not an attorney, but I just wanted to express how sorry I feel for your situation and hope everything turns out well for you. Contractor rip-off are big-time and happen to so many.

Did you have a written contract or agreement? Did it state the terms of what and especially when the job was supposed to be finished?

This is just from my own experience now, but I would send a registered letter, return-receipt so you have proof of delivery/receipt, and express to him exactly what is yet to be done, and that he must contact you within X amount of time or you will take legal action. I say this because when it happened to me, I made sure to give the contractor one final chance to square things. I made sure to do it in writing, return-receipt mail.

How much money are you out? You can call your local court and find out what the limit is for a small claims action. If your amount is within that, sue him in small claims court. If more, sue him in a higher court with a higher dollar amount allowed. But bottom line is, it sounds like your going to have to take him to court.

Good luck!

gideon0723 said:

As it is 1/27/2008 now, how long do we have to wait to do anything?

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Unless the contract specifies a completion date and states that "time is of the essence," then the job must merely be completed in a reasonable time. Additionally, a delay caused by unforeseen circumstances that are not the fault of the contractor will generally not be considered a material breach.

At this point, contact the contractor via mail and ask for an estimated completion date, as well as an explanation for the delay. If you get a response, you may be better prepared to declare a breach of contract.

Can we sell this contractor's trailer to recoup the money that we paid him?

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Definitely not.