Legal Question in Business Law in Texas

Our small Electrical Contracting business did work (through a general contractor) for a couple that ultimately did not obtain financing for the house that was remodeled. They spent over a million dollars renovating a home in a very tony area and now owe us over 10,000.00 which they are refusing to pay. Both the husband and wife are lawyers in Fort Worth, Texas and I believe they knew all along they had no financing and are waiting for the statute of limitations to expire by placating the general contractor with assurances.

So, I need to know...

How long do we have to file a lawsuit?

Can we independently file a lawsuit for theft of services apart from the general contractor?

Can we file a grievance with the agency that regulates license's for lawyers in the state? Would that be the Texas State Barr?

thanks for any help


Asked on 6/08/10, 3:53 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Patrick Tracy Patrick J. Tracy, Esq, P.E.,

I am not licensed in Texas, so I can speak in general terms. The best thing that you can do is to file a lien on the property so that this will create a cloud on title and will have to be resolved before it can be sold. In general the statute is between 5 and 6 years depending on the jurisdiction. You as an individual concern can sue the homeowner, howevr it can get messy because the owners could implead the general contractor for failure to provide or some other such theory

If you file a claim against them through the state bar it will need to be proven that they committed a crime of moral turpitude. They may provide a defense on the basis of shoddy workmanship or the like.

Bottom line is to make sure that there are no skeletons in your closet before you undertake this course of action, otherwise it will not be prudent to do so.

Good luck!

Read more
Answered on 6/09/10, 4:14 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Business Law questions and answers in Texas