Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Maryland

no contract home-addition/remodel

1/12/04 my husband and I signed a Design Proposal with a local construction manager. The proposal authorized him to draw up plans for remodeling our existing home. 4/20/04 he gave us a Bid Proposal broken down by cost code, activity (ie:roofing), and bid amount. We accepted the bid proposal after another meeting to clarify each cost. We understood our financial liability to be what he presented in his bid proposal. 8/1/04 we gave him the ''paid at contract'' amount of 12574 and waited another month for construction to begin. However, he never gave us a contract so we have NO SIGNED CONTRACT. Ten months later, they are nearly finished but the bills keep coming. Aside from allowance categories, many of his activities cost significantly more than the bid proposal. We borrowed based on that agreed upon figure and are not in a position to pay more. He is already 20000 over the agreed figure of 297466. There have been no change orders and often we were not aware of the overage until the bi-monthly bill. He has us write checks to his subs and to him every 2 weeks. What is our legal responsibility at this point? Can I tell him to pay the outstanding subcontractor bills himself with the 32000 we paid him for ''mngment''?


Asked on 6/07/05, 12:56 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Robert Strupp Robert J. Strupp,Attorney at Law, PLC

Re: no contract home-addition/remodel

It would be best to see the contract to answer these questions. Have you discussed the over runs with him? Are you getting lien releases from the subs? If you have further questions, I can be reached at 703-915-1401.

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Answered on 6/08/05, 3:28 am
Robert Sher Wagshal and Sher

Re: no contract home-addition/remodel

Without a signed contract, what is in the bid proposal essentially becomes the "contract" that controls the legal responsibilities between you and the contractor. If you are being billed for amounts beyond the items contained in the bid proposal, you should protest this and try to work it out with him. As for the subs, the concern is they will file mechanic's liens against the pro-erty if they aren't paid, but if you've paid an amount sufficient to cover their bills to the general before they do so, you will be protected. Just make sure you clearly indicate what items you are paying for so there isn't any dispute.

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Answered on 6/08/05, 5:29 am


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