Contractor MIA

The contractor I hired to do work on my house is dragging his fee t on completing the project. He has gone MIA and is not answering phone calls, text messages or emails. He left all of his equipment in my home making it impossible for me to use my space. I need advice on what I can do at this point. The project is in the final stage, we are not paying the final payment until work is complete. At this point I am willing to pay someone else to finish the work but I need to know what I can do about his equipment left at my house. Can I put it out on trash night? What can I do legally and how do I prevent him from putting a lien on my property?

brooklynchic

in General Discussion 8 years and 8 months ago

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clifton-girl | 8 years and 7 months ago

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Contact me at Brooklynreno1@gmail.com. You can check out some of our work at brooklynreno.com. I’d be happy to give you a quote to finish the work.

kpgrzybowski | 8 years and 7 months ago

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Thats terrible. If the equipment is in the way, rent out a storage unit and back charge him for it (after informing him of this prior). I had a similar situation and just went with another contractor in my house in Ridgewood.

kpgrzybowski | 8 years and 7 months ago

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Thats terrible. If the equipment is in the way, rent out a storage unit and back charge him for it (after informing him of this prior). I had a similar situation and just went with another contractor in my house in Ridgewood.

ottoparts | 8 years and 7 months ago

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It’s not about guessing. It’s about warning. That said, I agree with your assessment, slopefarm. It’ll be tough to get this guy back.

slopefarm | 8 years and 7 months ago

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We could be at this guessing game all day. There are thousands of contractors.

My guess is that, even though OP has not made final payment, the contractor looked at the payment schedule, how much is still due, and how much it will cost him to do it, and how much it will cost to complete the job and decided it isn’t worth it. the labor involved in the very end of the job is often underestimated.

Guest User | 8 years and 7 months ago

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IS THE CONTRACTOR BOB KUHN? HE HAS DIED, HAD A STROKE AND A YEAR LATER WAS IN A COMA FOR A LONG TIME, THEN HE PASSED

Guest User | 8 years and 7 months ago

string(1) "3"
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IS THE CONTRACTOR BOB KUHN? HE HAS DIED, HAD A STROKE AND A YEAR LATER WAS IN A COMA FOR A LONG TIME, THEN HE PASSED

emmajacob | 8 years and 7 months ago

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@brooklynchic: Just wanted to say that I have been dealing with the same issue with my contractor (Downtown Complete). They were great for the first 5 months of their 8-month contract, and then suddenly they started trickling in, the workmanship diminished, and they’ve been hard to find. It’s now been 14 months since they broke ground, and we’ve had to have several sessions of “therapy” with them to get them to finish up. I understand that this is the way with many contractors — they pile on jobs with poor planning, leaving owners to absorb the costs, and then they act out when you try to hold them to their promises — but it seems like no one wins when this happens. Good luck.

brooklynchic | 8 years and 7 months ago

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No.

ottoparts | 8 years and 7 months ago

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His name isn’t John Kemp, is it?

brooklynchic | 8 years and 7 months ago

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Thanks, I’m aware of the ramifications I just wanted to know if I needed to obtain a lawyer.

Lurker | 8 years and 8 months ago

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No, the DCA handles all the interactions. Look, to be clear this is hte last resort because you’re threatening the GC’s livelihood, so you have to decide whether you are willing to let them finish the work (or give them a chance to anyway) or if you want money back to move on. IF they show up to do the work you may end up having to fight them on quality, finish, workmanship etc. So it’s not all tidy and clean.

brooklynchic | 8 years and 8 months ago

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Did you have to hire a lawyer during this process?

brooklynchic | 8 years and 8 months ago

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Thanks for the information.

Lurker | 8 years and 8 months ago

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  array(2) {
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["bbp_participant"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "subscriber"
    [1]=>
    string(15) "bbp_participant"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(4) {
    ["read"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["level_0"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["bbp_participant"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

I post this often, but IF you have a proper contract with him and he is licensed by the DCA you can file a complaint with the DCA. If he doesn’t finish the job within the period of mediation of a few months they have the power to fine and even suspend or revoke his license and add sanctions to his work in the future. The DCA ives contractors their license and they can’t pull permits without that.

We had good luck using the process but it does take time. I would call the DCA then call the contractor, say I will be filing a formal complaint by Friday with intent for a refund on unfinished work and the cost to have someone else do it. I will be holding your equipment as collateral for unfinished work in our contract. If you reply and can finish by X date then we can avoid this painful process.

He will go ballistic and the relationship will be ruined, but then this is the only option left you. If he’s smart he will comply. If not, get the ball the rolling ASAP. Th ey take 30-45 days to reply to the complaint but from then on it moves pretty quick. We filed in December and had a settlement by April for 30 % of our original contract. http://www1.nyc.gov/site/dca/index.page