Forum
« electrical question Refinishing doors »
July 9, 2007
Firing a Contractor
Our contractor left the country on vacation with the work on our house unfinished. As his departure day approached, I asked him repeatedly whether he was on schedule and he assured me that he was. He put his friend in charge to "finish up the details." You veterans know where this is going...
His dodgy friend put in a partial day of half-ass work and left the house in shambles. He said that he was doing his friend a favor and was brought in for minor electrical work. This friend and another of our contractor's helpers said that they had committed to one day of work and would likely not come back next week because they hadn't been paid.
We are due to move in to the house in 5 days. Our contractor is unreachable, his workers unaccountable, and our nerves are fried. I've spent countless hours playing hookey from work in order to manage the contractor, and now his workers. Our landlord, employers, movers, and babysitter are all aligned around the move for next weekend.
We've paid for 2/3 of the work, which is about what was done. Maybe the contractor was secretly hoping that we would fire him? I'd almost prefer that over thinking that we naively trusted this guy until the day he left the country.
Today we found someone else to complete the work and fired the contractor. Since he's MIA, we had to communicate the firing through his 2 workers. We changed the locks and took tons of pictures as evidence of the unfinished work.
Who in the forum has fired a contractor? Any lessons learned that you can share?
Comments
You did everything right and welcome to the Brownstone brotherhood. Moving will be a mess and you'll be breathing dust and playing GC for a little while longer and it will be over. You'll be settled. Congratuations on your new place.
Posted by: anon at July 9, 2007 1:14 AM
You will be sued. You will have to settle (ie pay him more money). It's unfair. But that's the way it works. The law is on his side. I know it sounds crazy.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 9, 2007 6:42 AM
You've done most all you can do. Send him a formal letter saying the contract has been terminated and you consider all money is paid for the work that has been done. You've already changed the locks, so that's about all you can do. If your job was small, he will probably not sue. I hope you have everything documented.
P.S. This happened to us and we were not taken to court. It sucks though.
Posted by: Alex at July 9, 2007 7:35 AM
I've fired a few contractors in my day. The worst one was when he didn't pay his sleazy workers the money I already paid him and they threatened me. Don't worry about it. The hard part is over. He's gone. Welcome to the homeowner's SISTERhood.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 9, 2007 7:36 AM
As Alex said, document everything. Ask your real estate lawyer to send a formal letter stating the contractor was in default of his contract by not finishing work and leaving the country, etc. Take pictures, and video if possible. Get the names and contacts numbers of any workers you can, and best yet if you can get statements on record (like the friend who said he was doin him a favor and only asked to do electrical work). This way, if he threatens to take you to court, you can counter with damages resulting in having to hire another contractor to finish up the job.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 9, 2007 7:42 AM
For others who may read this, firing a contractor is easier (i.e., the process is more straightforward) when you have a good contract, and good contractors will not hesitate to sign a (e.g. AIA) contract.
Contracts are not just busywork or money-makers for lawyers and architects. They exist to clearly define who has what responsibility, and what the remedies are when various parties fail in those responsibilities.
--an architect in Brooklyn
Posted by: Anonymous at July 9, 2007 8:29 AM
There is no way this guy is going to sue. If he got 2/3 of the money for 2/3 of the work, he won't be that irritated. And he obviously wasn't that motivated to get the rest of the money anyway.
Document everything and move on. It looks like you'll resolve everything no worse for wear - thats better than most.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 9, 2007 8:31 AM
Follow all of the above advice. Also, keep good records of what you pay your new contractor and what the new contractor did, as well. Take progress photos of the new GC's work, and also document anything the new GC has to redo. If your move is delayed and it costs you (extended rent, short hotel stay, etc.) keep track of that as well.
In the event it costs you more to finish with the new GC than you would have paid the first GC for the entire job, you may have a claim against the GC. If the amount is small, you probably won't want to sue, but if he sues, your lawyer can include a counterclaim for your costs. That might scare him away enough.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 9, 2007 10:29 AM
Thanks for the responses. The job was for 2 weeks and under $10K, so I don't think it's worth anyone's time to pursue the legal route. The new contractor started today and I'm documenting his work and payments just in case. I talked to the flooring guys (who I hired on my own) and they said that they're not surprised we fired the contractor. They observed laziness, sloppiness, and a huge lack of communication among the former GC's crew.
Posted by: LRP at July 9, 2007 5:10 PM
Good luck. I was sued by a contractor over less than 10,000 after I fired him. He had done practically nothing. We live in a litigous society. If you think someone will not sue you because a) it is a small amount of money (to you), or b) you think you are in the right, well, I think you are sadly mistaken
Posted by: Anonymous at July 9, 2007 6:05 PM
Is there a place that this GC can be reported? How can he be kept from doing the same to the next person?
Posted by: Anonymous at July 9, 2007 9:12 PM
Intersetd to see what happes(ed) when the contractor got back... please continue to update
Posted by: anon at July 12, 2007 10:58 AM
If you have a certificate of insurance from the contractor #1 you can contact the insurance co. directly and put in a claim for damages. Since you documented everything it will help. I recouped and never dealt with my contractor #1. He sent one threatening letter from his attorney, we contested it and never heard from him again.
Posted by: Tom at July 13, 2007 8:55 AM
Post a comment
Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.