Legal Question in Construction Law in New Jersey

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Jersey

I was about to consult with a contract/construction attorney, but I figured I would see what minds in the similar field felt before I approached one specifically.

Three months ago Friday, I went to settlement for a construction loan on a new home I am building for myself.

I am GC'ing the home myself and the loan was to include the cost of construction which includes the modular and all associated work. The modular company was constructing the home, which they started two days prior to my closing and by my final quote were responsible for the buttonup and other interior/exterior work like roofing, siding, fascia, soffiting, etc.

I went with the modular company, even though they were new, because they sold it well. They had experience though not through that business, combined with a walk through of their facility and representations they made to me left me feeling comfortable.

The process of building went ok, as I stopped in nearly every morning to make sure things were going ok. There were those things that they forgot and I noticed and had them fix along with things that I noticed and they said would be fixed onsite. It was important for me to be there mainly to make sure they were building what I had contracted for and secondly to have lots of photos.

I stated noticing potential issues when the construction ran two weeks over what it was supposed to be. We had a super wet spell, so the set was delayed (understandable).

The real issues started set day. The crane was 2 1/2 hours late because the one they were bringing got a flat tire or something so they had to bring a crane much larger than they originally anticipated. When the crane operator arrived he was already annoyed because of the mornings events. He was trying to position the crane correctly, however me being the general contractor had to guide him because he thought he was going to break up all my concrete and have me pay to replace it. He got annoyed at me because I had the audacity to say "you are not breaking up my concrete and I am not signing a waiver otherwise." There was already another area of concrete broken from the previous crane that installed my basement and that was the area I told him he needed to use. He simply wasnt happy with me. (Threatened that if I didn't sign, he would leave, etc)

Anyway, the house started to be set. It came two boxes at a time because the modular company only had two trailers due to being backed up with other modulars they couldnt set due to weather. The first box was off of the foundation (sill plate) by about an 1 1/4 inches, but of course the modular co chalked that up to the foundation being off (Superior Walls foundation which was lined up very nicely). The second box had a large open area which the guys did not have enough knowledge to braced before transport and had to be done on site so the crane could lift it. The other two boxes (2nd story) went ok. After a walkthrough one the house was in, I noticed large gaps and the walls on box #2 were not straight (about a 5 degree angle). I questioned and they said it's typical. They build it out in the finishing phase so you would never be able to see it. I was not able to look at the second story because the stairs were not yet in.

So the set day went bad with a crane operator who was mad at me, he wouldnt even eat any of the lunch I bought for all of the guys. He was out of there as soon as the last box was on the house. The other guys were annoyed because he was late so the set took them longer than it was supposed to. Overall a complete mess.

The real issues because about 9 days into the process of finishing off the house. The mod co was reponsible for essentially providing a primed shell ready for me to finish off with flooring, kitchen cabinets, vanities, etc. Nine days in I noticed that the rate of completion was seriously lacking and that the guys that were working on the job had very little skill and were actually causing damage (broke one of my doors trying to put a door knob in - which they have not fixed to this day and the house still has no lock on this door - the guy tried to chisel out the door jamb with a screwdriver and broke chunks off the corners of both of the holes that are there for the locks - thereby messing up the integrity of the door).

Anyway, the co-owner reassured me that everything was going fine it was just taking a little longer. I found out that they were working on another home along side of mine at a different location which is why guys were not coming to complete my house every day until it was done. Most of the time it was just 2-3 guys. This is two months ago on the 8th of this month.

I met with the owner and partner about a month ago and they looked over the house to see what was done at that point. I told them that it was progressing much slower than the 30 days they told me it would be done by. (At that point it was already past the 30 days.) The partner told me he would get a schedule out to me of time frames that the work would be completed by and I said fine. That never came.

A week ago I sent another email to the owner telling him I needed a time frame for the work to be completed so I could have some accountability on their behalf. They need to have a schedule so they understand what needs to be done by when. I provided a punch list of all the stuff to be done (about 2 solid weeks worth of work) and told him to provide me a schedule of when work would be started & finishing. He declined to provide me this document and said simply "I'll have guys there until the job is done." To date, usually there is 1-2 guys, sometimes none, and the work job is still in the seemingly same condition day after day. All the GC work is done - the electrician, plumbing, HVAC etc have all come and gone with only the interior work to be completed, some of the exterior work and a roof to be put over my deck.

The reasons he gave me why the work was not yet done are: 1) I am too picky, 2) the guys are afraid of me because I talk down to them, 3) I didnt have the electric in so it made it hard for them to work, 4) the deck was not completed so they couldnt do the job in one shot, 5) described me as "the guy to work for you, not the guy to work for", 6) didnt realize the amount of work, said they should have never agreed to do it.

Here are my issues: 1) there is no formal contract (verbal only), only the final quote I signed. They said they were going to get me a contract but never did. When I told him later that we "didn't even have a contract," he said that was was beneficial to me (yeah right). 2) the amount of work to be done is still substantial which includes finishing the stairs which still are not in place and the wall not built in the basement, fixing the stairwell wall that looks like it's pregnant (HUGE bump), fixing a window upstairs that was stressed during set due to the wall being crooked - it doesnt close right, extending the back roof over my deck, and a number of other things. 3) I dont see it being finished anytime soon with the amount of labor that is over there at a given time and the owner has refused to provide a time of completion. 4) I cannot do my work (flooring, painting, installing kitchen cabinets, vanities, etc) until they are out because they will damage it.

I've told him that the port o potty is gone effective Friday and the dumpster is being picked up today. He is now responsible for all waste generated and it much be removed at the end of each day with the jobsite left in a clean manner (something they were not doing).

Overall the experience has been VERY subpar and my dad thinks I should just sue his pants off due to a inferior product (modular). I don't particularily want to do so but I guess I can leave it as an option. The fact of the matter is if I got my family to help out I could fix stuff to the point that I could do my work within two weeks, but...

... THE BIG FINALE ... I paid him for everything on set day. So he has had all of my money for everything for almost 60 days. I don't have anything at this point that I can hold over him except for a lawsuit.

The big question - if you havent fell asleep yet - what is my best recourse? I figured I would have an attorney send a letter that states they have "X" amount of time to complete or they are going to court, but wonder what other professionals think before I do something that rash.

Thanks for the help and the time you spent reading. I can provide pics (and further information) if that helps.

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