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Back Charges Questions
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Back Charges
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I supplied & install materials but then couldn't pay my vendors or workers because the gc didn't pay me and excessively back-charged me for work that i didn't do because they didn't pay me
New YorkI am a general contractor that has completed work ( installed new ducting ) and the customer has refused to pay. I sent a certified letter stating that the account will be sent to collections, upon receipt customer called and threatened to complain on all formats of ratings as well as the BBB if we send to collections. Sent it to collections and customer offered very minimal payment with requirements of lien waivers for his property as well as all the places he contracted our services for which exceeded $12,000. Customer offered $2000. Collections advised us to sue our former customer. I have truck tracking and signatures approving the work as well. The job was completed 08/2021 but we have been in contact with this customer throughout the past year inquiring about payment. What are my legal options?
TexasI'm an electrical contractor and worked as a sub for a GC on a public project for a housing authority. Full disclosure, the GC and I had a falling out and we refuse to work with him after completion of this project. We completed the project and when he sent us the final lien release for our retainage payment, he advised he was withholding money because we did not install a water heater control panel. He claimed he had to bring another electrician in to complete the work. 1. No where on any of the contract documents is a water heater control panel shown. It is shown as a single point connection on all drawings, which we did. 2. The submittal for the model of the water heater used does not show it needs a control panel, or that a control panel is even an option. 3. We were never notified that a HWH control panel was needed. Therefore, we never had a chance to submit a change order. If this was change order work, then it would be above our contract amount and he still could not back charge us for something that was not on the drawings to complete. 4. If this work was complete, do I have the right to see if an additional permit was taken out? Our permit had one control panel for the boiler. The boiler control panel we did install. I do not want to be held accountable for any work associated with the HWH control panel. 5. I have been working with the housing authority to help straighten this out. Their representative met with the engineer that stated a HWH control panel is standard and we should have assumed there would be one, even though it is not mentioned on any contract drawings. They are also claiming we didn't connect the boilers to the generator. (This is the first time I'm hearing about this.) The drawings show a new panel being installed for the boilers, which we did, and that panel fed to a distribution panel. That is where our work ends. There is no mention of doing anything to connect to an existing generator. I honestly feel like I'm being gaslighted here. I'm trying to have a meeting directly with the engineer, but it seems that he doesn't want to admit to any sort of wrongdoing, but the principal of the matter is that I whole heartedly believe we are owed that money and the GC is trying to stick it to us because we had a falling out. I don't know if I have any hope here because the engineer is backing the GC up with inaccurate claims. Is there anything else I can do?
New JerseyI’m subcontractor, doing siding, did this job around one year ago,builder paid me but didn’t pay sales tax and he doesn’t have reseller permit, I didn’t paid attention till I got audit, now department of revenue wants that money and builder just ignoring me. I’ve been on that property three weeks ago, he just started sale that townhomes.
WashingtonI work for an excavation company. We don't use Levelset at the company I currently work for. The company that I used to work for used Levelset, and it was very helpful. Recently, I took over the billing at the company I currently work for and noticed that there are more than a few jobs that have unpaid invoices dating as far back as 2016. Our contract is fairly basic regarding client invoicing and payment, basically we will submit invoices every (30) days, client shall pay invoices in full within (30) days, If client fails to pay we may give (10) notice to client to secure the default, if they fail to do so, we can stop work. I would like to attempt to collect on some of these old invoices. Do I have any recourse, if so, what steps would I have to take in order to do so? Thank you in advance.
Californiacan i evict on my mechanics lien
CaliforniaWhatare services how u can help me
CaliforniaI am a subcontractor and have filed intent to lien. The GC wants to have a meeting to discuss. Do I need an attorney present? Or do you ace advice on how to handle.
TexasI’m a small flooring business located in Florida. I have about 7 years total of running my own company and in total about 17 years of flooring installation and refinishing hardwood experience. So here goes my problem. When Covid first started and everything got all jacked up and began effecting supply chains. The ability to acquire urethane based wood glue was next to impossible. Maybe you’d grab one bucket from here a few from offer up and the rest was what ever flooring glue you could get your hands on. So when I found a guy that had pallets of AAT 420 which is engineered vynil, vynil, vct and subfloor adhesive I jumped on it. I ended up in the last three years going through about 4 pallets of glue which is about 200 -4 gallon buckets or closet to 800 gallons of the stuff. Just to state it is not a urathane based adhesive. When I first purchased the glue I ripped out then tile in my closet using a 3/16 v notch trowel I glued different types of flooring to include: 5 inch wide by 5/8 engineered white oak, 7 inch by 7/8 engineered oak, 3 1/2 solid white oak and 8 inch by 1/2 inch engineered oak. With all of that dry for a day I began to try and rip it up and see how it would hold. It had about a 90% grab rate and to remove it I had to use considerable force and even then it left parts of the floor behind still glued down. With all my 17 years of flooring experience I had a confidence going in to all my jobs and using the adhesive. In total in the 3 years since Covid ruined the world I’ve installed close to 125 different jobs and until my present job have had 0 zero zero point zero problems with adhesion and boards popping or cupping. So what’s the problem? That brings us to my last job. Just to state I’ve never had any written contract or other instructions from the current contractor. I did 6 unit apartment building which includes 2 lobbies on Palm Beach, Florida. The contractors that subbed me I had done 4-5 previous jobs, using the above stated glue, and have not had any issues of adhesion and any call backs for any issues for glue related issues. Just to state I have never had a written contract with the contractors on any of the jobs I’ve done for them. My reputation, quality and honor is known in the area. I do what I say and never try to hide anything. Which sometimes is a downfall of mine. They never told me to use a specific glue and on my estimates and invoices it plainly states “flooring adhesive” not urethane based adhesive. So, The job was about 6000sqft and 47 steps and risers installed over existing 24x24 smooth tile. When I began installing the current building, that has no CO, I began grinding and even used sulphuric and Muriatic acid in fear that the tile may give me some Issues. The problem was that the owners that just bought the building who are multi multi millionaires did not want to stay in a hotel or rent a place to stay during the complete Reno of the building. Every one began complaining of dust and the stench of the acid. So the contractor asked me if it was necessary to grind and acid every area. I told him that I believed we needed to but I wasn’t the one to make the call to stop and said it’s up to you what you want me to do. He then asked me just to start installing because the new owners were in a rush to start to recoup the 15 million they just paid for the building. The glue had always been on site with all the labels intact so I was not hiding the glue or switching to try and save money. The glue goes for about 45$ a gallon or 180$ for a 4 gallon bucket. So saving money or cutting corners was not the objective I wasn’t able to get any other glue and I had about 35 buckets left. So I install 4 units and the 2 hallways and in one of the units along the walls where the tile was uneven there was a hollow spot not because of the glue but the unevenness of the tile. In the original estimate I stated that we should pour self leveler and use a sound proofing product that would aid in installing the wood. Both those options were denied due to the cost that it would bring. I explained about the tile and at that point I was not going to be liable for the unevenness. And because they were in a rush just to go. So go I did. The wood was stored outside a warehouse a few miles away outside. They asked me if I would bring the wood that I would need for any given time or day. Because of the time crunch we were not able to properly acclimate the flooring land on top of that the AC was consistently going out because people leaving the exterior doors open and leaving the windows open. So because the apartment building was the first building on the beach the humidity was clearly at 100% inside. I kept telling them that this would eventually cause an issue and it was going to be on them. But again I was told just to keep going so I did. The entire time I was on the job we were either under the supervision of one of the companies partners or a week and a half after I started they hired a full time superintendent. They knew the entire time what product I was using and what I had used on the previous 4 or so jobs. That brings us to the end one day while walking the owners noticed some creaks in the locking systems of the floor in one of the units. . I told them it was because everything was at 100% humidity and all of a sudden they Shut all the doors and kicked on the ac to 70. I told them that this was due to wood getting shocked and I could inject glue under any boards or use tounge and groove glue mixed with a little bit of water and get it in each seem. So I did that in one of the units and it took care of about 85% of the problems. The owners then proceeded to call 5 different flooring companies for them to come and give them an estimate to rip out and reinstall the floor. One of the companies said that they wouldn’t be able to give a proper estimate with out testing how hard it would be to remove. When the company began prying up some of the floor the first are came up is shards. Then on landings prior to the stairs in 3 of the units the edge board came up with medium strength. At this point the owners were still leaning towards leaving it and trusting my word that there wouldn’t be any future issues because the previous 100 plus jobs I did using this glue. But then the contractors spoke on the side and said to the owners that they were going to rip it up. The owners were a bit taken back and said they thought they’d leave it. But because the contractor offered and never got my input they all agreed and the following Saturday began to remove the flooring. Because of who I am. I went over and helped them begin to remove the first two units. The contractor has since asked/told me that I am responsible for everything and I would have to pay for the removal, dump, new wood and all costs associated with the reinstallation to include the shoe moulding and paint. When this job finished I was halfway through another job for them that was 10,800$. They gave me the first 5,400 and have yet since to pay me the rest even though the job had been completed and using the same glue is as solid as any other glue. In total they’re asking for about 90K even though to date I’ve been paid about 36,000 out of 45,000. Not sure what in the world I should do as this is the first time I’ve ever had to deal with something of this nature in all my 17 years and probable 5000 or more jobs. Any help would be more than appreciated. Sean McNamara McNamara Custom interiors llc.
FloridaI am a subcontactor on a city project for the city of savannah, I was forced by threat of claim against my bond to finish the project. Even though the project took double the budgeted time because of delays caused by others. All were aware that delays were beyond our control, but we were required to be on site for the duration. We submitted a change order for the time extention, but the prime is arguing that change in duration is not a change in scope, and that they do not feel that they owe for the extra time we were held to be on site or for any expenses incurred for the delays. This has severely affected our able to do business since then. We are owed Approxiately $160000.00, can you help? Lien is already in place with the county.
GeorgiaHello. I did a large amount of work and supplied materials for a job. I was paid in increments while doing the work with an AmEx card. Then, after being asked to let a friend of the family finish the project because they had other problems in the house and wanted to save money, they did chargebacks for most of the money. Quickbooks is now after me for $25,000. How can I resolve this?
MaineIn May of 2020, after many delays and issues, a well respected, established and reputable contractor was hired to do extensive repairs to our home after a severe hail storm when they simply walked off the job in September of 2021. The job was 99% finished and there was still a balance due of many thousand dollars. We have not heard from the company since! Did the company just write it off? Should I worry about future problems arising from this?
MichiganI have a contract with a construction contractor, I paid him his monthly share and now he is asking for more funds for extra activities ( labour) done which I know nothing about and the contract does not state any additional payments for extra work or whatsoever. He has a history of delaying payment for his construction workers and asking for early payments. What should I respond to this email?
FloridaWe are a mechanical contractor, we do HVAC
We have a situation with one of our customers.
Builder, for new construction. They have several homes and their account is currently past due. In one their jobs on of our sucobtractors (they're insured) they made a mistake and some damages needed to get fixed. The problem is that out customer said he was going to send us the documentation so we could open a claim with the insurance. The never did that and now they are just trying to substract 12K from all the open invoices they have.
My question is, can we file a lien for one of their houses, since the amount matches with one of their jobs.
TexasAre back charges credited to the customer as well or are the terms only between the GC and Sub?
California