Legal Question in Consumer Law in Virginia

Asphalt driveway contractor filed ''warrant in debt'' to collect money we withhe

We contracted with an asphalt contractor to pave our driveway and paid deposit of several thousand dollars. Contractor arrived at mid-day (not 8-10a.m. as promised) and rushed through in order to get to a night job they had scheduled. They did a bad job that did not meet specs in our opinion (rain water pools, edges not tamped, thin material at road, etc). They did not clean up the job site..left bottles, food wrappers in the yard. The foreman wanted the check, and we refused becasue he refused to discuss repairs to the obvious faults and we finally told him to leave because he became combative and rude. We immediately called his company and said we would not pay until repairs were complete. The owner came to inspect and made an offer to reduce cost slightly, but was indefinite about the repairs so we offered a lower amount, but still needed the repairs. (Some of the repairs will not be cheap or easily fixed.) He left abrupty and said he would write it up, but only sent us a ''Demand for Payment'' with no dicssion about making repairs. So, we sent him a letter offering a better negotiated price and outlined the repairs again. His response was to send us a ''Warrant in Debt'' to appear in court. What are our rights?


Asked on 7/03/05, 11:55 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Asphalt driveway contractor filed ''warrant in debt'' to collect money we wi

Your "rights" would appear to be within an oral understanding between you and the company's employee/agent that in return for your payment of a particular price that you would receive a paving of your driveway with asphalt approximating a reasonably competent and workmanlike job.

Apparently, you didn't receive this and will now need to defend your position in the matter in the general district court as a result of the Warrant in Debt filed by the company which delivered the unworkmanlike work.

The facts which you present to the judge which support your assessment that the job was worth much less than what the contractor is demanding, will likely determine whether you win or lose. An expert witness(on driveway asphalt paving jobs) who could testify in your behalf would obviously be beneficial.

Read more
Answered on 7/05/05, 8:31 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Consumer Law questions and answers in Virginia