Legal Question in Business Law in Virginia

As a Franchise Attorney I cannot speculate on whether unauthorized charges on a credit card you supplied gives rise to any criminal liability. All provisions of the signed contract would need to be considered as well. Is this person a licensed contractor? You can file a complaint with your state's contractors licensing board. If he is, he can be in a lot of trouble. If he isn't, then they will likely require him to give you all your money back. Consult with a good business or franchise attorney in your area for specific advice.

Mr. Franchise - Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D.

Franchise Foundations, a Professional Corporation

Criminal charges against this contractor? No, I would think not since you gave him your credit card to use in the project(albeit it was suppose to be only

for the purchase of deck and patio material).

You have failed to specify, however, the total amount of these non-authorized charges, but whatever they are, they would likely fall in the category of civil damages rather than criminal wrongdoing (in my opinion).

The other aspect of the case is what you do about the unfinished job, apparently, now nearly two months overdue? If the contractor is already

in material breach of the contract due to this tardiness for completion of the project as well as the unauthorized charges, you should be able to formally discharge him(if you haven't already done so) and hire another to complete the job, and then sue the defaulting contractor in civil court for all that you've paid him (including the amounts of the unauthorized charges) plus any other related charges incurred through his default.

FYI, attorney Murphy is not licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia.