Attorney for Contractor Dispute

Hello, We are in need of legal advice concerning next steps with our contractor, who has failed to complete his contract and did a poor job on the projects he did work on. Does anyone have any recommendations for someone who could give us good initial advice and, if necessary, take the dispute to litigation? Thanks in advance.

queenstoner

in Lawyers and legal service 10 years and 7 months ago

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resident2 | 10 years and 7 months ago

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To hire an attorney for most homeowner/contractor disputes is like taking a sledgehammer to your own head! That does not resolve the problem, but takes more money from your house budget. First they will lecture you on your time that you are paying for that the contract was not written properly, that you released too much money already etc. etc. etc. They will write threatening letters etc., that you will pay for… The bottom line is, you either did not investigate or get the necessary references or looked at prior jobs etc. for the contractor in the first place, or took the lowest bid etc…and this is where it has gotten you. If you cannot talk to the person and come to a compromise to resolve the situation, then cut your losses, put it down to an expensive lesson and move on….it will be cheaper & quicker in the long run for your peace of mind. Because you will still need to pay for someone else to finish the job, if you cannot work something out with your current contractor; and no decent contractor wants to clean up someone else’s mess and deal with your hurt aftermath. But to add lawyers fees on top of that as well….Start banging your head on your wall now! Contractors come in two types: judgment proof (they own nothing) or they have Pit Bull Lawyers.

zagor | 10 years and 7 months ago

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Second piece of advice, do not ignore greenmountain’s post. Lowballin’ contractor might get you a highballin’ lawyer.

concord | 10 years and 7 months ago

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First piece of advice, ignore last post! Obviously but… Lawyers (construction lawyers) have no less desirable cases than home owner construction cases…you might end up hating the lawyer more than the contractor. Nevertheless, no reason to be intimidated by bad contractors… There are many choices…too few details in your post…all relative…relative to $

greenmountain | 10 years and 7 months ago

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I am sorry you are having such a horrible experience. I don’t know the details, but this is a shortened version of many of my prior posts on this topic for you and other readers. You already have a team of lawyers. Best of all, I already paid them on your behalf. As one of 14,000 Licensed Home Improvement Contractors, I paid your lawyers at the firm: NYC Dept of Consumer Affairs. Why do you want to pay again? I also provide you with the most consumer protective contract in the world, used by licensed NYC HIC’s. And, since all residential contractors in the city are required to be licensed, all of our contracts are approved by your law firm. So, the contractor friendly AIA contract is not approved and not binding on NYC contractors (licensed or not). “Time and materials” is not approved and not binding on contractors. To save money many consumers choose to hire unlicensed contractors. The law which requires me to be licensed does not require home owners to hire licensed contractors. Many unlicensed contractors save money by workers’ compensation insurance fraud and payroll tax evasion, the very things our community has established to protect all of us.