Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Indiana

We hired a contractor for a bathroom remodel. Per his contract, we had to pay half up front and half at 50% done. It also stated in the contract that he would take 10 days to complete.

Short story, he started on August 11 and we fired him on November 3 and the job was still not complete. Aside from the poor craftsmanship, there are other issues with the work that was completed. We have had different contractors come in to evaluate and determine what has to be done to fix all the problems (shower drain will not drain, cement board not used in tiled shower, water line too small for the water pressure needed for the additional shower head, etc etc.)

What recourse do we have to recoup the money paid to this individual. We paid $12,000 and it's now going to cost at minimum $8,500 to fix the problems.


Asked on 1/18/16, 11:25 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kenneth Wilk Rubino Ruman Crosmer & Polen

You would be entitled to recoup your 50% payment, LESS what he would be owed for materials and any decent work that he did. However, because of the amount, you would have to pursue your case in regular court which means that you would need an attorney to navigate through the evidentiary and procedural rules. By the time you spend court costs, fees to pay for your witnesses' time (contractors cost money to come to court) and attorney fees, it might not be worth it. Additionally, since the odds of collecting any money on the judgment are also probably not great. It might be a good idea to chalk this off to experience and to do business from now on with people whose work and references your research carefully.

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Answered on 1/18/16, 5:52 pm


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