Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Georgia
hi
i did some remodeling in camden county georgia on a trailer.the work was done before they moved in and was work the new tenants wanted not there landlord. we had a verbal agreement that i would give them a good deal which i did. there was myself and another guy there for 36 hours. normally i charge $20 per hour per man plus materials. they gave me a total of $400 for materials. and i presented them with the final bill of $865.00 which was a savings of almost $600 to start. they had to be put on payment plans at $200 a month until it was paid due to no funds. the new tenants son agreed over the phone to pay me $400 which he sent them to pay me and bill would be paid in full. another loss to me but atleast some payment. now she is telling me i did not tack down the rug so shes not paying me.the rug was just something i said i would do to help her out. no charge. which i said no problem i will take care of that and she said no. take me to court im not paying. can i take them to court?. i am not a licensed contractor but i do not believe that matters as it was remodeling.
2 Answers from Attorneys
You can take them there but how do you plan to prove any of this in Court?
And what if you violated local ordinances and get fined for doing work without a license? That also may be a problem you face.
See a lawyer, but consider this to be a lesson in how not to do business. You need proper written contracts, and you should not operate a business without those (and any needed business licenses).
Mr. Ashman is right. If you are in business, you only should have written contracts SIGNED by the person for whom you are doing the work. Proof will be your word against the word of the tenants. If you did not tack down the rug and the tenants allege this as a claim against you, any recovery by yuo colud be reduced by the cost to do this if the tenants prevail on their claim against you. Not tacking down the rug is not a defense to non-payment if you substantiall performed the contract.
Regarding licenses, work under $2,500 does not require a state contractor license.
In the future, don't do work for tenants unless they happen to own the mobile home and just rent the lot. If the trailer is owned by the landlord, then contract with the landlord. He may have a lease requiring that he approve any remodeling.
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