What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts
I hired a landscaper to do some work on my property last year. During our first meeting I gave the contractor a to-scale drawing of the scope, which by large consisted of aluminum edging installation and distribution of crushed stone along the edging. Also included was spring clean up, some lawn repair, and some additional crushed stone behind a retaining wall. On the drawing was an estimated material list that I used to help budget the project. I didn't know how accurate my estimate would be, and the contractor did spend time on my property measuring as needed so I assumed there would be some discrepancy.
Before the work began there was no contract signed; just a proposal for $5,900 that was given to me which was very detailed and broke down everything which accurately depicted the drawing that I gave him. Some of his material numbers were different than mine, and surprisingly, our numbers were close except he estimated a little less stone than I.
On day 1 I expanded the edging and stone to another area of the yard. As the project progressed, the contractor came to me and said he would need additional stone to get the coverage as originally proposed. He couldn't tell me how much he had already purchased and distributed (without looking at his receipts), and couldn't tell me how much more would be needed. Originally, he has proposed 6 cu of stone... figuring he couldn't need more than another 6 cu of stone ($600 of material/labor), I told him to continue. He didn't ask for money at this point, just kind of shaked his head at how off he was. The additional 6 cu would eat up the 10% overhead I had on the project. This happened again with the stone behind the wall.
Not once did the contractor come to be and ask for more money, nor had he implied that I would have to pay more than originally proposed. But I knew I would end up paying more because of the stone, so I was expecting some extra. Once the job was complete, the contractor sent me an invoice that totaled the project at $16,500. The work that I added on day 1 (the expansion of the edging and stone) came to $3,200, which was shocking considering it was only a fraction of original proposed work for $5,900.
Deducting the $3,200, $5,900 somehow jumped to $13,300. He wouldn't return my call to discuss the invoice, so after waiting a couple weeks I decided to pay him $11,700 which covered $5,900 + $3,200 + $2,600 (which covered the extra material required to complete the project). The remaining balance was for labor that I refused to pay due to the extreme underbid, and that he never once came to me and told me his proposal was less than 1/2 of what it should have been. He wrote me a letter saying that other than the additional stone, everything took much longer than expected, requiring more man power. He also admitted that he used my estimate of materials, which I thought was odd considering he took the time to measure the property himself. He obviously knew my numbers were low and wanted to win the bid.
I understand that I went about things the wrong way here, from not getting a signed contract (I thought the proposal was good enough), to adding scope without getting a price for it, and not verifying how much additional material would be needed. Sometimes I am too trustful in other people and expect to be treated fairly.
A year has now passed since the work was completed and this contractor as already threatened to sell my debt to a collection agency, take me court, has given me deadlines that have come and passed. He is still sending me invoices on a monthly basis with the most recent including a years worth of interest at 18%.
I think in MA the statute of limitations is 6 years so I'm wondering if I should have anything to worry about at this point. Any advice would be appreciated.
I hired a landscaper to do some work on my property last year. During our first meeting I gave the contractor a to-scale drawing of the scope, which by large consisted of aluminum edging installation and distribution of crushed stone along the edging. Also included was spring clean up, some lawn repair, and some additional crushed stone behind a retaining wall. On the drawing was an estimated material list that I used to help budget the project. I didn't know how accurate my estimate would be, and the contractor did spend time on my property measuring as needed so I assumed there would be some discrepancy.
Before the work began there was no contract signed; just a proposal for $5,900 that was given to me which was very detailed and broke down everything which accurately depicted the drawing that I gave him. Some of his material numbers were different than mine, and surprisingly, our numbers were close except he estimated a little less stone than I.
On day 1 I expanded the edging and stone to another area of the yard. As the project progressed, the contractor came to me and said he would need additional stone to get the coverage as originally proposed. He couldn't tell me how much he had already purchased and distributed (without looking at his receipts), and couldn't tell me how much more would be needed. Originally, he has proposed 6 cu of stone... figuring he couldn't need more than another 6 cu of stone ($600 of material/labor), I told him to continue. He didn't ask for money at this point, just kind of shaked his head at how off he was. The additional 6 cu would eat up the 10% overhead I had on the project. This happened again with the stone behind the wall.
Not once did the contractor come to be and ask for more money, nor had he implied that I would have to pay more than originally proposed. But I knew I would end up paying more because of the stone, so I was expecting some extra. Once the job was complete, the contractor sent me an invoice that totaled the project at $16,500. The work that I added on day 1 (the expansion of the edging and stone) came to $3,200, which was shocking considering it was only a fraction of original proposed work for $5,900.
Deducting the $3,200, $5,900 somehow jumped to $13,300. He wouldn't return my call to discuss the invoice, so after waiting a couple weeks I decided to pay him $11,700 which covered $5,900 + $3,200 + $2,600 (which covered the extra material required to complete the project). The remaining balance was for labor that I refused to pay due to the extreme underbid, and that he never once came to me and told me his proposal was less than 1/2 of what it should have been. He wrote me a letter saying that other than the additional stone, everything took much longer than expected, requiring more man power. He also admitted that he used my estimate of materials, which I thought was odd considering he took the time to measure the property himself. He obviously knew my numbers were low and wanted to win the bid.
I understand that I went about things the wrong way here, from not getting a signed contract (I thought the proposal was good enough), to adding scope without getting a price for it, and not verifying how much additional material would be needed. Sometimes I am too trustful in other people and expect to be treated fairly.
A year has now passed since the work was completed and this contractor as already threatened to sell my debt to a collection agency, take me court, has given me deadlines that have come and passed. He is still sending me invoices on a monthly basis with the most recent including a years worth of interest at 18%.
I think in MA the statute of limitations is 6 years so I'm wondering if I should have anything to worry about at this point. Any advice would be appreciated.
