After getting 3 quotes, I went with a man named Eric who represented himself as a party of a company (had business card and gave me a quote with Company information. He was alot cheaper so I was happy to hire him. His workers did a terrible job, the craftsman ship was poor and grout did not match and I explained my unhappiness. He was done but I had to order a special shower door so I told him I would not pay in full but 3/4 until I was able to use shower and make sure it worked-He agreed. 5 days after shower door was installed my bathroom closet floods...I reach out to him and he agrees to help me as now shower has to be torn down and start completely over. I told him I wanted to reach a monetary agreement since the job was faulty....agreed, asked me to send whatever quotes I get to him, which I did. Now he will not answer my calls or texts. I call the company that was on my paperwork and he has not worked there for a year. SO he misrepresented himself and I am out about $5k and shower does not work! Do I have a case?
Hello!
You absolutely have a case. Breach of contract, fraud, DTPA, and unjust enrichment are the causes of action I see off the top of my head.
There are several problems that I am aware of to begin.
1. You are out more than $5K. You gave him $5K and you will have to spend more to repair the shower.
2. Scammers have this nasty tendency to vanish. Before even starting to sue, you need to find him.
3. Even if you can't find him and you choose to sue, you can get substituted service by publication which will allow you to get service on him and get a default judgment if he doesn't answer but there's a likelihood he does not have the required insurances so you will have a piece of paper that says he owes you money and nothing else.
4. If he doesn't have insurance, there's also a likelihood that he does not have any assets or money to collect on your judgment. With that being said, did you pay him with a check? If you did, there may be some things we can do.
In short, there are two parts of a lawsuit 1) winning and 2) collecting. Here, there is a decent likelihood of winning (no guarantees, of course) but whether you can recover anything is anyone's guess.
If you want to pursue it, we are willing to help!
E. Aaron Cartwright III
214.789.1354
Aaron@EACLawyer.com