It's only a $3K job - which I'm sure is why the contractor is not following up. Is it a pain in the ***? Will just a letter with that threat make them fix the problem? What do you need to know going in - I have lots of documentation on promises and appts not kept. Or just give them a bad review on yelp and call into BBB.

Not enough info for a firm opinion, but assuming $3k paid and no or marginal work after a significant period, I'd take them to scc or see if an attorney will take the work. You may have a DTPA, breach of contract, construction trust funds claims entitling you to attorney's fees.

ETA- I represent business clients and see claims even of this size. If they turn the claim over to insurance, you probably get a refund sooner rather than later...they hate paying defense attorneys for small claims. Consult with an attorney before making a decision.

I've taken a contractor to scc. It was very easy, and I did not need an attorney (prior to taking him to court, I did have the attorney write him a letter which he ignored). The paperwork to file the case took about 30 minutes to fill out, and I was in court for about 30 minutes. I also filed bad reviews on Yelp, google, bbb, etc...

I simply documented everything. I took the contract we had signed that agreed upon the work to be done. I took proof that I had paid, and I took photos of the work that had not been done. I printed out text conversations that showed I had tried to contact him many times. I had phone records showing how many times I had called. The contractor made lots or excuses, and tried to blame me for many things, but I had all of my ducks in a row, and it was an easy decision.

I won judgement which also included the cost of taking him to scc and the cost of the attorney that I used to send him a letter. If you are in the right, just document everything. Prepare yourself for every excuse the contractor will make, and have documents supporting everything. It was surprisingly easy.

Now getting the contractor to pay the judgement is another story. I had to put a lien on his property.

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Now getting the contractor to pay the judgement is another story. I had to put a lien on his property.

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You likely won't get paid

rlb28 said:

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Now getting the contractor to pay the judgement is another story. I had to put a lien on his property.

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You likely won't get paid

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But you can make his life really hard and/or take his stuff. Depends on if it's against the business or the person, but there's always things you can take. If the contractor was personally sued because he runs a proprietorship, any income he gets from other jobs could be fair game as its not, "wages," which are exempt. If the lien is against his house, it's really hard to sell a home with a lien. If it's the business, all business assets like vehicles are up for grabs, IIRC. If the lien continues to be unsatisfied, you just identify property to be taken to satisfy it, get a writ of seizure and sale, and have the sheriff take it. I'm sure the details are more complex than that, but that's the basic process. If the guy's business was sued and you are towing away his work truck, he might start coming up with cash real quick.

Josepi said:

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I've taken a contractor to scc. It was very easy, and I did not need an attorney (prior to taking him to court, I did have the attorney write him a letter which he ignored). The paperwork to file the case took about 30 minutes to fill out, and I was in court for about 30 minutes. I also filed bad reviews on Yelp, google, bbb, etc...

I simply documented everything. I took the contract we had signed that agreed upon the work to be done. I took proof that I had paid, and I took photos of the work that had not been done. I printed out text conversations that showed I had tried to contact him many times. I had phone records showing how many times I had called. The contractor made lots or excuses, and tried to blame me for many things, but I had all of my ducks in a row, and it was an easy decision.

I won judgement which also included the cost of taking him to scc and the cost of the attorney that I used to send him a letter. If you are in the right, just document everything. Prepare yourself for every excuse the contractor will make, and have documents supporting everything. It was surprisingly easy.

Now getting the contractor to pay the judgement is another story. I had to put a lien on his property.

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OP, read this and decide if worth it. Most scc will side with you as they are usually JP's - real citizens who will tend to side with you.

The problem after getting a judgement and lien, is collecting. You can file your own lien but consider an attorney so every i is dotted. That will cost some money. Then you wait until contractor sells. Even then, it's common he still owes, so bank has first lien.

If the contractor has a LLC set up and then declares bankruptcy, are you basically SOL? You can't slap an lien on the guy's estate if his business isn't set up as a sole proprietorship right?

hillcountryag86 said:

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Josepi said:

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I've taken a contractor to scc. It was very easy, and I did not need an attorney (prior to taking him to court, I did have the attorney write him a letter which he ignored). The paperwork to file the case took about 30 minutes to fill out, and I was in court for about 30 minutes. I also filed bad reviews on Yelp, google, bbb, etc...

I simply documented everything. I took the contract we had signed that agreed upon the work to be done. I took proof that I had paid, and I took photos of the work that had not been done. I printed out text conversations that showed I had tried to contact him many times. I had phone records showing how many times I had called. The contractor made lots or excuses, and tried to blame me for many things, but I had all of my ducks in a row, and it was an easy decision.

I won judgement which also included the cost of taking him to scc and the cost of the attorney that I used to send him a letter. If you are in the right, just document everything. Prepare yourself for every excuse the contractor will make, and have documents supporting everything. It was surprisingly easy.

Now getting the contractor to pay the judgement is another story. I had to put a lien on his property.

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OP, read this and decide if worth it. Most scc will side with you as they are usually JP's - real citizens who will tend to side with you.

The problem after getting a judgement and lien, is collecting. You can file your own lien but consider an attorney so every i is dotted. That will cost some money. Then you wait until contractor sells. Even then, it's common he still owes, so bank has first lien.

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This is true in my case. The judge was a JP, who was a good ol' boy. I knew within the first ten minutes it was going to be decided in my favor.

I never have seen any money, but I filed the paperwork on the lien myself, and in theory, I should see some money some day. It will just be some bonus money at that point, and I'll use it to buy myself something fun.

There has been some discussion about time and expense not being worth it. I don't remember the exact cost, but the whole process probably cost me less than $250 (that included printing pictures and preparing for court). Honestly, I was just so pissed at my contractor, it was worth it for me. It was all about revenge in my case.

I may never see any money...I don't know. It was more about the principle of the situation. I didn't want to get screwed over, and just take it. I wanted to fight back. I at least feel better about the situation with that judgement in my pocket.

Thanks for all of the input!! It was work that was complete - restain and reseal stamped concrete patio. Same company did the original patio 11 years ago - difference is the owner was in charge and was trustworthy and reliable. It is now the son. Half assed the job the first time, repairs did not hold up even for 6 months and after several calls and several months , finally came out and probably saw this is gonna come out of his pocket and tried to ignore. Kept calling - very patiently then called more often - not harassing but more forceful each time. When I finally left the message at his office that I had enough documentation for SCC if he would rather go that route, he finally called. Every excuse - Covid, too many jobs, no projects in area, then the freeze. I remained calm, caught him in lies, let him know that I was documenting his mixed messages and said he'd be out to not repair but "test" the concrete in approx 2 weeks. Tried to nail him down on a date and he squirmed.

Now I just want a letter with some legal teeth to at very least refund the previous unsatisfactory work. Hoping an official sounding letter might influence him. Any suggestions on attorney fee to craft such a letter?

Josepi said:

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hillcountryag86 said:

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Josepi said:

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I've taken a contractor to scc. It was very easy, and I did not need an attorney (prior to taking him to court, I did have the attorney write him a letter which he ignored). The paperwork to file the case took about 30 minutes to fill out, and I was in court for about 30 minutes. I also filed bad reviews on Yelp, google, bbb, etc...

I simply documented everything. I took the contract we had signed that agreed upon the work to be done. I took proof that I had paid, and I took photos of the work that had not been done. I printed out text conversations that showed I had tried to contact him many times. I had phone records showing how many times I had called. The contractor made lots or excuses, and tried to blame me for many things, but I had all of my ducks in a row, and it was an easy decision.

I won judgement which also included the cost of taking him to scc and the cost of the attorney that I used to send him a letter. If you are in the right, just document everything. Prepare yourself for every excuse the contractor will make, and have documents supporting everything. It was surprisingly easy.

Now getting the contractor to pay the judgement is another story. I had to put a lien on his property.

---

OP, read this and decide if worth it. Most scc will side with you as they are usually JP's - real citizens who will tend to side with you.

The problem after getting a judgement and lien, is collecting. You can file your own lien but consider an attorney so every i is dotted. That will cost some money. Then you wait until contractor sells. Even then, it's common he still owes, so bank has first lien.

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This is true in my case. The judge was a JP, who was a good ol' boy. I knew within the first ten minutes it was going to be decided in my favor.

I never have seen any money, but I filed the paperwork on the lien myself, and in theory, I should see some money some day. It will just be some bonus money at that point, and I'll use it to buy myself something fun.

There has been some discussion about time and expense not being worth it. I don't remember the exact cost, but the whole process probably cost me less than $250 (that included printing pictures and preparing for court). Honestly, I was just so pissed at my contractor, it was worth it for me. It was all about revenge in my case.

I may never see any money...I don't know. It was more about the principle of the situation. I didn't want to get screwed over, and just take it. I wanted to fight back. I at least feel better about the situation with that judgement in my pocket.

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Exactly. I sued in SCC and it cost me maybe a $100 and two hours of my time (one hour in court, one hour to get the paperwork together). I won and got paid, but I sued a large company. Who cares if you get paid though, their life is hell after that in multiple ways. Totally worth it when someone chooses not to honor their side of the agreement.

We are currently in a legal battle with our contractor who built our house, so far, we are up to $8k in lawyer fees, but we seek $80k in damages.

We started out going SCC, but it just kept adding up; then, when we moved into our house and came pretty close to dying, that's when I had enough. We are going on for almost 16 months and still haven't been to court.

I believe my lawyer put both his companies name and tied his Social to the lawsuit so that the lawsuit still follows him if he closes his business.

third coast.. said:

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Howd you almost die

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Our contractor installed the wrong furnace in our house, which is spray foam. We kept having our smoke alarms going off, and I couldn't figure out why; I finally realized every time we turned the heater on, it would set off the alarms. The contractor sent people out to fix it, but it was never fixed; I ended up buying specific CM and gas detectors after that. Sure enough, those kept going off one night, so we just shut the system off, and I called an A/c company. They did a full inspection and deemed it unsafe to use; one of the issues was the exhaust fumes were dumping right into the house.

This was Thanksgiving right before the covid hit, and I'm positive I have covid; I couldn't help my wife move into our new house. It was cold that week, and I was freezing. My parents came down to help her move, we ended up spending Thanksgiving at Golden Corrral, and I remember not being able to taste or smell my food.

third coast.. said:

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I mean, that was probably for the best since you were at Golden corral.

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Very true! Nothing else was open, and I was in no shape to move, much less cook; my wife and parents were exhausted.

Good to tie the business and the individual in. **** that guy, and I hope you win/get paid.

I've got to ask. Did the builder just bail on you? He refused to make the deal right??? That just seems crazy. I know furnaces aren't cheap, but a replacement furnace (of the correct kind) is a hell of a lot cheaper than being sued and hurting you reputation.

We are building now and have been working closely with the builder. A few small things so far (window cut in incorrectly, drain in the wrong place and a broken vent pipe). He has been Johnny on the spot addressing them. We are building in the middle of a cow pasture and his guys forgot twice to close the gate. One text message and I got an apology phone call from the HVAC guys in less than 10 minutes. In the panhandle we have wind blowing the trash around and in some cases out of the dumpster. He found some trash on the ground and had a laborer out within and hour picking up trash and tarping the dumpster.

I can imagine our builder bailing on a deal like that. As a matter of fact, he refused a shipment of windows because there was a scratch on the farm that would be covered by siding. Really not a big deal to me at all but as he said "I and by extension you paid for brand new windows. In the event there is ever a problem with that window, I'll have the nagging doubt about it".

Sasappis said:

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HeightsAg said:

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If the contractor has a LLC set up and then declares bankruptcy, are you basically SOL? You can't slap an lien on the guy's estate if his business isn't set up as a sole proprietorship right?

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If you paid them, the funds are construction trust funds and the use of those funds for anything other than paying for materials and labor is a violation of the construction trust fund statute. That is a crime a civil violation. That debt would/should not be dischargeable in bankruptcy. Of course you have to spend money and time fighting that.

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I don't know the details but I do know that my parents sued a contractor for work not completed and won the judgement including legal costs. Contractor declared bankruptcy and my parents paid even more fire lawyers to go to bankruptcy court. Again, I don't know the details but I do now that the bankruptcy court cleared the debt due to the judgement.

jtp01 said:

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I've got to ask. Did the builder just bail on you? He refused to make the deal right??? That just seems crazy. I know furnaces aren't cheap, but a replacement furnace (of the correct kind) is a hell of a lot cheaper than being sued and hurting you reputation.

We are building now and have been working closely with the builder. A few small things so far (window cut in incorrectly, drain in the wrong place and a broken vent pipe). He has been Johnny on the spot addressing them. We are building in the middle of a cow pasture and his guys forgot twice to close the gate. One text message and I got an apology phone call from the HVAC guys in less than 10 minutes. In the panhandle we have wind blowing the trash around and in some cases out of the dumpster. He found some trash on the ground and had a laborer out within and hour picking up trash and tarping the dumpster.

I can imagine our builder bailing on a deal like that. As a matter of fact, he refused a shipment of windows because there was a scratch on the farm that would be covered by siding. Really not a big deal to me at all but as he said "I and by extension you paid for brand new windows. In the event there is ever a problem with that window, I'll have the nagging doubt about it".

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It was just a series of events that kept building; unfortunately, there aren't many things a homeowner can't do in this situation. We couldn't stop building and fire the guy because we had a deadline due to our apartment and bank loan stuff. I was also afraid he would try and put a lien on our house and make some BS excuse to delay us.

We had no choice but to have him finish and take him to court later, spent $2k to repair plumbing (still not completed), and $6k to repair all the a/c stuff, electric plugs that don't work, windows that take the act of god to close, metal siding that looks like crap.

I did everything you are supposed to do when bidding out a job and picking out the contractor; he wasn't the cheapest and had great reviews and customers that I spoke with. The one thing I'll do for the rest of my life is paid to have a bankruptcy check on any contractors; that's where we uncovered the worms. From all the files I gathered, he had gone to bankruptcy twice in two other states doing the same thing, screwing people out of money and filing bankruptcy, then moving to a new state and doing it again for a few years.

BTW I'm still finding f-ing taco wrappers and salsa cups on my property from these degenerates.

Damn. You found an excellent builder. I'd drop that guy a 5* review everywhere I could find and tell him to use me as a reference.

I was foreman on a jury for a flooring contractor dispute. Floor was installed and owner didn't like it. Contractor agreed to replace it but the product was back ordered and customer sued before the product came in.

We awarded the customer the cost of a new floor (the contractor had previously agreed to replace it after all). Then we awarded the contractor legal fees because the customer was a whiny little biotch.

My advice is to file a complaint with the BBB and leave a few negative reviews. But if you do go to court, you better not sound like an unreasonable A-hole.

Good advice. I really just need a strongly worded letter with some legalese to see if they budge. Otherwise I have documented every conversation, unreturned call, misleading statement if I need to go that route. Cost isn't the issue as much as being ignored.

I sued the tollway authority in SCC. They caused some property damage during construction. I initially went to the contractor. Foreman told me they knew this portion of the construction would cause property damage when they saw the blueprints when bidding on the contract. Said they had pointed it out to them and were told to "wash their hands of it". That pissed me off. Next thing I know my wife had contacted a TV station. They came out and did a story. Video footage, interview, etc.... The reporter who did the story knew the PR guy with the tollway and called him. This guy told me that he promised they would make it right.

At first I was being very reasonable with them. Told them if they just pay the cost of the materials I would do the labor myself. They kept stringing me along. Statue of limitations was approaching (I believe that's what they were trying to do). So finally told them to send me a check for material costs by a certain date and I forever go away and if not it would cost them much more than I was asking. They balked. The judge was not happy with the way they had handled it after playing the phone conversation of their promise to "make it right" and then ignoring me. I ended up with almost triple what I had originally told them I would be happy with.

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BTW I'm still finding f-ing taco wrappers and salsa cups on my property from these degenerates.

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We've been done 3 months and I'm still dining Fanta and modela bottle caps and cigarette butts in the yard.

You recorded the call? With or without their consent? I forget if Texas only needs one party to agree.

Big Al 1992 said:

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You recorded the call? With or without their consent? I forget if Texas only needs one party to agree.

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Texas is a one party consent state for wiretapping and phone recording.

I also phone recorded my conversation and played it in court which really helped my case. You do have to be careful if you could be possibly talking to someone out of state when recording, but for Texas its fairly obvious its one party consent. Think about all the times you've been recorded when calling companies without your consent.

third coast.. said:

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I mean, that was probably for the best since you were at Golden corral Colon.

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FIFY...