Legal Question in Construction Law in California

Landscaping Nightmare!

Signed contract in March 2006 with licensed/bonded landscape company to do big job in our backyard. Estimated at $43000.00. In April, he started a retaining wall and had the concrete patio poured. We gave him $1000 downpayment, $14,000 after the retaining wall was rebarred, inspected and OK'd. Asked for $7000 draw for concrete. Didn't show up again until late July. He came to the project with contract in hand accusing us of changing the engineered wall, which was engineered in April...no changes. He threatened to take us to arbitration and put a lien on our home when we tried to fire him. We were in such shock that once things calmed down and he asked for another draw...we gave it to him!! Afterwards, once the shock wore off, we couldn't believe it. We filed a complaint with the CSLB, got him to sign a DETAILED contract with a new completion date of Oct 26th. He has hardly done any work and will not make the date. Our pool co. is still waiting for him so they can finish. Total paid to-date: $36,500. Should we just let him finish and file another complaint, a claim on his surety bond, withhold his last payment? Or, should we sue him for the amount to have it finished by another contractor? Not sure what to do?


Asked on 10/23/06, 1:18 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

Re: Landscaping Nightmare!

Let's see: you've paid 85% of the contract price, and little of the work has been done. I would say that, if you can get him to finish it will be a miracle, because then you won't have to pay twice for the work to be done. Hopefully, you won't have to sue to recover your money. If you do, feel free to contact me.

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Answered on 10/23/06, 5:06 pm
JOHN GUERRINI THE GUERRINI LAW FIRM - COLLECTION LAWYERS

Re: Landscaping Nightmare!

You can sue him; but your earlier comment appears to indicate that the contract with him includes a binding arbitration provision. If this is the case, you must make demand upon him to proceed to arbitration.

A claim against the surety bond is not a guarantee. A surety bond is not insurance, nor is it a performance bond. The surety bond will pay out only in specific, limited situations - failure by a contractor to perform is NOT one of those situations.

You should certainly file a claim with the CSLB against the contractor. If the contractor cares about his license, he will respond.

How you proceed now depends upon how aggressive you want to be. If there is no indication that the contractor will perform, you will have to retain a replacement and then sue the existing contractor for the difference between his contract amount versus the amount you must pay the new contrator, less any payments actually made to the existing contractor.

Keep in mind that you might have difficulty locating a replacement contractor willing to complete the job - at the very minimum, you will likely not find a contractor willing to provide a warranty on any work that has been done by a prior contractor.

We have extensive experience with contractor disputes, both residential and commercial. For additional help, please feel free to call or email. Good luck.

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Answered on 10/24/06, 12:46 am


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