Legal Question in Consumer Law in Illinois

We hired a contractor - president of his own inc company to demo and redo our master shower. We paid him half up front $2K and he only completed $500 (have another professional estimate to prove this) in 4 months. He was a no show several times without calling and then when he would show up, he'd leave after an hour or two of work. He damaged 2 of our walls without telling us prior to the work of the possibility of damage -nothing in our contract stated that either. We had to fire him after 4 months and asked for the reminder of our money $1500 plus $900 in damages for the wall (estimate for that too). He also used my name falsely on a website without permission and with false info on what work he did for us. (I have timestamped shots of the web pages). We reported him to BBB and its been another 4 months and BBB will close the case as unresolved in 10 days. They suggested we take add'l action. What options do we have. We also have emails to prove everything including that he agreed to give us $1500 3 weeks ago. HE still hasn't paid..small claims court? Attorney General? Police report? Can we sue for mental suffering? court costs, attorney fees? Other contractors have told us he likely had no intention of finishing the job. We incurred extra costs to ship materials because of the contractor telling us he'd show upon XX date and he never showed up, etc. (again i have email and documented proof -statement from supplier company employees)..


Asked on 4/07/10, 9:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Sal Sheikh www.BetterCallSal.com

You are upset.

The bottom line is that you want to be reimbursed for the expenses that you incurred.

Problem is that in most of these situations, guys who do jobs for cash are usually judgment proof. This guy most likely doesn't have a cent to his name.

If he does you need to pursue him in either small claim or civil court.

Total up all of your damages(expenses). Do you know if the contractor has any assets?

If the dollar amount is small enough you can pursue this guy in small claims and you most likely can do it pro se(without an attorney).

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Answered on 4/13/10, 6:59 am


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