Building and Construction - Re: unfinished repairs to home by unlicensed coontractor

Author

Re: unfinished repairs to home by unlicensed coontractor

marson

2007-05-19, 8:25 pm

>
> Since there was, in reality, no valid contract...

Why do you say that? Read up on basic contract law. An oral contract
is still a contract.
>
>
> I think you see why a (good) written contract is absolutely vital for
> anything that is non-trivial. In court 'he said, she said' doesn't get
> very far.

This is easy advice to give, but I don't know many people who draw up
contracts for small jobs. At most, they just spell out the scope of
work, the price, be it a fixed price or time and materials, and a pre
lien notice. Hard to imagine that if you are hiring a friend to do
some work you would hire a lawyer to draw up a 5 page document that
spells out "if the contractor leaves the job for three weeks such and
so happens." That just isn't realistic.

Seems like this is mostly about a personal relationship gone awry.
The OP needs to protect herself by consulting an attorney.

sadie via HomeKB.com

2007-05-19, 9:25 pm

This is very personal. I'm upset about being taking advantage of, and he
probably feels the same way. I am getting close to retiring and my plan
was to fix up my house, sell it, and have a nest egg. The market went
south and I will wait until it starts up again before I sell it. For
him to call my office and tell my supervisor that he knows I'm closing
on the 24th, spoke with my realtor, and thinks it would be a good idea if
I called him by 5 p.m., because he does not want to let the realtor know
that I had a mold problem is a threat and you're right it is personal. I
have read up on statutes in my state and it says that unlicenses
contractors have no legal rights period. I may have tried to come to
an agreement with him, but since the threat.... He willl deal with my
attorney.

marson wrote:
>
>Why do you say that? Read up on basic contract law. An oral contract
>is still a contract.
>
>
>This is easy advice to give, but I don't know many people who draw up
>contracts for small jobs. At most, they just spell out the scope of
>work, the price, be it a fixed price or time and materials, and a pre
>lien notice. Hard to imagine that if you are hiring a friend to do
>some work you would hire a lawyer to draw up a 5 page document that
>spells out "if the contractor leaves the job for three weeks such and
>so happens." That just isn't realistic.
>
>Seems like this is mostly about a personal relationship gone awry.
>The OP needs to protect herself by consulting an attorney.

--
Message posted via HomeKB.com
http://www.homekb.com/Uwe/Forums.as...uction/200705/1

Matt Whiting

2007-05-19, 9:25 pm

marson wrote:
>
> Why do you say that? Read up on basic contract law. An oral contract
> is still a contract.

True, but it is very hard to prove that you ever had the oral contract.
That is the crux of it. There are several tests to establish the
presence of a contract and in the case of an oral contract, these tests
are hard to meet.

Matt

CWatters

2007-05-20, 9:25 am

"sadie via HomeKB.com" <u34331@uwe> wrote in message
news:726fbe4e3a605@uwe...
> This is very personal. I'm upset about being taking advantage of, and
he
> probably feels the same way.

No it's clear from his actions that he doesn't. There are too many people
around these days willing to exploit the vunerable. I think you have been
way too generous lending him a car and replacing his tools. Were they really
even stolen?

I'm very glad to hear you have spoken to an atorney.

PeterD

2007-05-20, 1:25 pm

On 19 May 2007 17:03:41 -0700, marson <briankontio@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
>Why do you say that? Read up on basic contract law. An oral contract
>is still a contract.

Read, again, what I said: no *VALID* contract.

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