Legal Question in Consumer Law in Georgia
Verbal Agreement with Major Misunderstanding
I recently requested an estimate from a landscaper for exterior work at my home. The contractor left the estimate thinking I wanted him to do the work, but I recall telling him I would call him to confirm. He went ahead and did the work, plus additionally cut down a privacy hedge that was out of the scope of anything we discussed. I initially wrote him a check after arguing with him, enough to cover the original scope of work but with a big discount. After further thought about the lost privacy hedge, I stopped payment on the check. What can happen from both sides at this point?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Verbal Agreement with Major Misunderstanding
What he can possibly do is sue you for the bad check, double the amount as a civil penalty, and possibly pursue a criminal charge under certain circumstances. An outsider looking at the facts (such as a Judge) may very well conclude that even if there was a dispute or misunderstanding, it ended with you agreeing to an amount and writing a check. That appears to be exactly what happened, and you are backing out of the agreement you made. The time to resolve all issues was before you wrote the check.
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