Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Wisconsin
our carpenter abandon us
we hired a man to put in new windows, doors, siding and a roof. He started Nov. 23, 2007. Gave us a finish date of Dec. 1, 2007. We haven't heard from him since Dec.21, 2007. We don't have all the materials on site, and we've given him $10,000.00 dollars. He doesn't return our calls and our house is completely torn apart. Windows that are in are only partially done. The doors are in and not sealed or weather striped, part of our home is sided. What can we do?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: our carpenter abandon us
File suit. You have to make the decision as to what kind of remedy you would like. If you choose to go the small claims route, your recovery is generally capped at $5000, but perhaps you have received more than half of the materials and service that you paid for.
Often times a suit that is filed is sufficient to motivate the person to complete the job.
You could always sue for specific performance of the contract, but that creates difficulties in enforcement, and presumably at this point you simply want your money back in order to pay someone else to quickly finish the job.
The other option is to bring the claim in the circuit court. If that is the case then your potential recovery is much higher but the costs and time will also be higher.
I suggest contacting an attorney to see if a letter threatening a suit is sufficient to get the contractor in line, and if not you will then have someone to represent you in your civil claim.
Best of luck.
http://www.SMSweeneyLaw.com
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