Legal Question in Consumer Law in Iowa

We are in the state of Iowa. Recently we had a plumber bid for & complete some work in our home; shortly after there was a leak around a valve they had installed & we called this plumber back to repair the area. The plumber came & did the repair 'no questions asked' & also without a new job bid. We believed this to mean that the plumber understood their error in workmanship & their responsibility for this leak....But a few weeks later we received a bill for this repair at $69.00.

We contacted the business & informed them we had already paid for their service the first time & felt we should not be paying for them to repair their own faulty work. The plumber threatened to send the bill to collection services if not paid. We do not want this harming our credit, so right away we filed a dispute with Iowa BBB & began their process of mediation. Since no resolution could be agreed on, Iowa BBB has now closed the case as "disputed".

However, this bill is still outstanding & something must happen with it. $69.00 is a low dollar amount, but the principal of paying this plumber to fix their own leaky work is very troubling. What options do we have? Thank You!


Asked on 8/24/11, 7:46 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Luedeman solo practitioner

You can either pay the money and make it go away or do nothing. Either way you can't prevent the guy from either hiring a collector, reporting it to a credit reporting agency or suing you in small claims court although in that case the filing fees would exceed the yield. If they do report it to a credit reporting agency you have the ability to dispute it. I would checki my credit report periodically and see if it has been reported. There are three credit reporting agencies and since you are entitled to one free credit report per year, functionally that works out to one every four months.

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Answered on 8/25/11, 5:52 am


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