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What recourse do I have in a breech of contract situation

VirginiaConstruction ContractPayment Disputes

We are working with a solar company that drew up a contract explaining that we could either have a "smart switch" which can feed the energy directly into the house during a power outage or a battery. We thought a smart switch was the answer and the contract was hand written in under "other" smart switch - $5,700.00. The amount for monthly payment was figured to our approval and the panels were installed. When they went to install the switch, the laborers informed us that we could only use 1/4 of the power generated which would barely light a lightbulb. We told them the gentleman who sold it to us said it would do 3 rooms and they said, no way. We called them back and after stuttering and stammering, they admitted they only just got the switches and knew very little about them. We said this was not what we were told and wanted to switch to a battery instead. After weeks they came back and said no, we need both the switch and the battery to make the battery work and our monthly payment would go up $170.00 per month, now out of our financial reach (they promised that our solar bill would match our current electric bill replacing like for like so we would not be out of pocket). They also said they could not take the switch off of the contract (basically, we were stuck with that) but could add the battery. Can they legally do this? Surely this is a breech of contract! Thank you very much for your assistance

1 reply

Nov 16, 2022

Hard to say without knowing what the contract says, or doesn't say, about the work to be performed and any remedies available to you. Generally speaking, however, if there was an offer and acceptance and one of the parties failed to deliver as promised, that would be a breach of contract. However, Virginia courts historically enforce written contracts absent unusual circumstances, so knowing what's in the agreement is critical. Based on the limited information available, there is at least a possibility that an argument could be made for fraud in the inducement of the contract, but that would require more information. 

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