My contractor did not finish the job he was hired for. He continued adding more to the project and we ended up paying over $20,000 out of our pocket to keep up with the work he was doing. Finally after we were over $20,000 the amount of of the contract we had to ask him to just finish what we hired him for because we had cleared out our savings. When we told him he left the job taking all of the materials and expensive equipment that we bought for the job. After he subtracted our materials and equipment from a spread sheet that he put together he still felled to subtract all the materials/equipment that he had us purchase from the spreadsheet. Once he did the balance according to him was $6,900 that we would need to pay him just to get our stuff back. Finally we offered the $6,900 to him he has never responded. We still can’t live in our house because it’s not safe or finished. Thanks to our children we have had a place to stay or we would have been homeless. My husband has lived in our house for over 50 years, works a full time job and he and my children were still over there everyday helping his crew. We are heartbroken and could be bankrupt and that’s not the way we live. We pay our bills and his $75,000 contract has cost us nearly $30,000 dollars and we don’t have the money to finish our home. There has never been a mortgage or any leans since the home was bought in 1969 by my husband’s parents. It was deeded to my husband in 1985 by my in-laws and we took out the first Mortgage in November of 2021. I have been told that filing a lawsuit won’t help us because he owns nothing and he can just change his LLC and continue with his work? I do have a copy of his insurance/bond can you help me? Thank you Dana Compton Hake and Kenneth Ray Hake
You need to create a paper trail, so I suggest that you consider the following.
You should write the contractor a letter by certified mail to request that the contractor return to correct/complete his work. In that letter, you should advise generally what work needs to be corrected/completed. You should also indicate that if the contractor does not return to correct/complete his work, you will have to retain another contractor, and will hold the first contractor responsible for the costs. Finally, indicate in your letter that if the contractor does not advise that he will return to correct/complete his work within one week, you will presume that he has no intention of doing so, and you will hold him responsible for the costs of correcting/completing his work.
When the contractor does not return, you can retain another contractor to correct/complete the first contractor's work. Make sure that the second contractor itemizes his invoices and lists the costs to correct/complete the first contractor's work. You cannot charge the first contractor with the cost of work that was not within the first contractor's scope of work.
Once you have tallied the costs associated with correcting/completing the first contractor's work, you can consider suing him to recover those costs. The jurisdictional maximum for small claims court in Texas is now $20,000. So, if your claim exceeds that amount, you will have to sue in County or District Court. In small claims court, you can represent yourself. In County or District Court, you will have to retain an attorney. However, under Texas law, you would be entitled to recover attorney's fees if you prevailed.
Make sure that you take a lot of photos of the first contractor's work. Digital photos with the date of the photo imprinted on the photo are best. You should document the condition in which the first contractor left the work and what it took to correct/complete the work.
Good luck.