When you hire someone to do work on your Albuquerque home and they fail to complete that work as agreed, it can cause a lot of stress, especially if you have already paid the contractor. There is a chance that a contractor might skip out on a project of any size, no matter how big or small. In the case that you haven’t heard from them, not only may you be living in an unfinished house, but there may be dangers involved as well.
What do you do?
The obvious solution to the situation is to hire another contractor if you’ve only paid for work that you’ve already received. The process of finding someone new may seem tedious, but you’re probably going to find that’s the best approach.
You might have a bigger problem on your hands if you’ve paid for more work or supplies than you’ve received. This is also true if a contractor didn’t do high-quality work or did damage to your home and then disappeared.
Make Complaints
You can file a complaint with different organizations. You can, for example, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or Angie’s List about a contractor who didn’t complete the job. It is recommended that you also contact the state contractor licensing board.
You can usually file a complaint online, and you may not recover all of your losses. However, you are taking steps to ensure that other people are not treated similarly by the contractor in the future.
Legal Action
You might have no choice but to take legal action if you’ve repeatedly attempted to contact a contractor and been unsuccessful.
Only take this option if you’ve already tried to have a conversation. Having an email trail is helpful if you want to prove that you tried repeatedly to reach out to the person to resolve the problem.
Whether you speak with the contractor or not, you should also document any calls or texts you have with him or her.
When you’ve been financially hurt by a contractor’s actions or inactions, litigation could be the only option left. As a result, you will need to ensure that litigation is cost-effective and you will receive sufficient compensation.
Small claims court is likely to be used if a contractor fails to complete a job. It’s good news that you don’t have to hire an attorney for that type of situation.
Just make sure you bring all your evidence and documentation to court.
A claim in county court may be required if the damages are higher than what can be handled in small claims court. A lawyer is going to be expensive, unless you represent yourself, so it’s really a case of balancing costs against compensation.
What If You Didn’t Have a Written Contract?
You should always have a written contract when you hire someone to work on your home. You are better protected if you make your contract as specific as possible. If the contractor fails to finish, what happens if there’s no contract in place?
No written contract is necessary for a breach of contract lawsuit. However, proof of an oral contract will have to be provided. In this situation, it is often helpful to have all of your communications with a contractor in writing, so you can refer to them in the future.
Additionally, if witnesses were present when certain conversations occurred, they might be able to testify.
Additionally, there is typically a statute of limitations if a contractor does not perform the work they promised or causes damage. There is a legal time limit within which you can file a lawsuit. There are different rules depending on whether or not there is a written contract. Since there will be a shorter statute of limitations if it’s an oral contract, you should take action once you realize the contractor won’t return after you’ve paid.
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