Can I Cancel a Contractor's Contract, Need help asap!

By the way...the work has just begun..I'd say 10% done..

Typically you can cancel a contract. Read the terms. If you have any questions or concerns contact an attorney.

$13k sounds like a lot of money.

Listen stuff happens, what you need to do if the man as already done 10% of the work, you need to ask him to stop so that you can work out a partial agreement. I agree with just-plan-e, nobody likes to do work and then hear those ugly words "I don't have the money". So what I suggest is you call the man and ask him to meet at the property in private. Then calmly you tell him what your situation is and see if he can do up to a certain percentage of the work (UP TO WHAT YOU DO HAVE TO PAY HIM) AND THEN AMEND THE CONTRACT AND LET HIM GO TO WORK. If he get's excited you keep your cool, keep your tone of voice soft so that he doesn't get any angrier that what he already rightfully is.(Proverbs 15:1)

You should have counted the cost before signing the contract. I've been doing Home improvements for 15 years and have a contract EVERY time I do work. Just go back and be TOTALLY upfront with the man, explain to him what happen, people prefer to hear the truth rather than so BS and then feel their getting shafted.

You're in an ugly situation but you can work it out!!

Pray about it if you are so inclined!

GA

I have told him that he will be paid for the actual work done which is $1700. He started putting holes in the bathroom to replace pipes, etc..and still not completely done after 4 weeks! So another problem popped up because now, rodents have started coming out of the open wall! However, this is not the reason why we are canceling the contract..it is the funds.

If you have an experience for 17 years..what can you say about this contractor who has given us 3 months to complete whole plumbing system in a 4plex...and one month has passed, he is still doing one bathroom!? Our 4plex is completely occupied so needless to say..a tenant will complain to death if his bathroom has holes and rodents coming out! I know that he is working in between jobs..and I know that he has family to feed that's why we are lenient with his schedule.

He may be working within the 3 month-timeline he has imposed but it's becoming more unrealistic that his entire month has just spent in one bathroom. Any contractor here could answer this question: How long does it take to complete a plumbing upgrade in a 4-unit apartment under normal pace?

This contractor has been with us for over a year on a per occurrence basis...and now that we have decided to hire him for a bigger job...he started acting like this. We never signed contract before and now that we have a contract, he is threatening to sue, file a lien or breach of contract because we are canceling.

Bottomline...he will be paid for the work done(the bathroom!!!) for $1700 eventhough we are extremely UNHAPPY with his work.

----Thanks for your comment...I appreciate it..

Marizel

Thanks for your advice.

Here's the thing...he already knows that he will be paid for the actual work he is doing..he's not even done with this one bathroom that he started 4 weeks ago! So if there's really someone who has the right to be ****ed...it's me..BUT I'm keeping my cool..I'm trying.

What he wants me to do is to continue the contract...let him work and finish 100% and pay him $13K for the whole project. He wants me to fulfill the agreement.

We have the money to pay him the $1700....but not the $13K..eventhough it is payable in 12 months. Our mistake was...yes you're right..we underestimated the available funds..but then again, the reason behind it is because..one of our tenants who is in Sec. 8..his benefit rent amount got reduced and we can't do anything about it.

Anyway, so my question is: Does the contractor really have the right to file a lien for full amount against the property eventhough he just finished 10%?

Thanks all for responding to my post! I appreciate it!

Marizel

I will contact our attorney on Monday...

And yes..I believe that $13K is a lot of money..

He just told me that if I pay him $2000...he will agree to cancel the agreement. So, maybe you'll imagine how greedy he's becoming now. He wants me to deposit $2000 in his account by tomorrow and he will finish the current job. So what do I do if you were on my shoes?

Thanks!

prepare a document to cover yourself an have him sign before you put the money in his account.
Make sure that the document states that you're paying him $2,000 for work that was done, and that the contract to do the rest of the work is being amicably cancelled by both parties.

In the future, keep in mind that 'handymen' are not 'contractors'; they can handle small jobs, but not rehab work. When you decide to upgrade the plumbing in the other units, hire a licensed contractor who has done the type of work that you need to have done.

good luck!

Settle this mess, and move on. Make sure you sign a new contract as Valerie says that covers all the bases.

Thank you ladies!

Ok, here's another update. He agreed on signing a new contract that describes what you have said above in your posts, then we will give him the first draw of $1000 by tomorrow by check..then the other $1000 on the 10th upon completion of current work being done. And we will be at the property to make sure that it is done correctly and as agreed.

We have learned a tough lesson here altogether..which is a good thing. It is messy but nonetheless, educational.

Thank you all for your help! We can move on with our lives after this..

God is good...I've been praying about this since last night. Thank you Lord!

Congratulations on getting this settled Marizel. And thank you for sharing this with us. We all learn through our experiences and the experiences of others. And we are always guided if we lift our "confusion" up in prayer, then God oftentimes uses people to give us tips to point us the right direction or help us figure something out! We're happy for you!

I've recently had some major construction work done and it is helpful to be in the construction site to oversee their work. (Also gave me peace of mind that they are doing work as specified). And if there's anything also that I may add, make sure you take pictures (of before and after, for any construction work done, just as a safety and security measure).

Cris

That's a superb and yet simple advice...take pictures. See, like I said previously..we've had this contractor/handyman for a year and honestly..we're like family already so my mistake is that..I got so comfortable with him that I didn't realize that at the end of the day..this is still business. I have a huge compassionate heart for people..so I didn't think for a minute that he can turn like this to us. So now, another lesson learned..we can be friends with our team but we have to draw the line and get everything in writing(and take photos!), be firm with some flexibility. And most of all...PRAY..before and after the incident.

Ok...this is just getting better..

The first mistake that happened in this transaction is that..I just got a contract template and fill it out with what we agreed on originally(the big project). Not realizing that we're dealing with contracts and it is binding..we went ahead and sign without showing to our attorney. Then this mess came up. We(both contractor and our company) are now drafting another contract that will supersede the first one...which is..terminating the remaining work in the project and just paying contractor for the work done.

I have to make sure this time that I show the new agreement to our attorney before even handing the contractor a check for the new agreed price of $2000. Contractor said that he will have to show it to his attorney as well..which is good. After the 2 attorneys give a green light for us to sign, then we all go to the property, take photos, sign the contract and hand him the first draw of $1000.

That way, this contractor can never ever threaten me with anything else again.

Hi just plan-e. You're right in every sense. He actually talked us in to hiring him to do this big project. We turned him down 3 times, but after there were leaks coming up in different parts of the 4plex..we just decided to give it a try. Another mistake we made is that..we didn't even ask if he has done something like this before. Right now, I could tell that he is juggling his all other jobs between ours and wherever. Our tenants said that he will come by for 3 hours and leave and return after a week. We could not be there all the time to watch them do their work because first of all, it's occupied, second, we work too.

Needless to say..he has spread himself too thin, wanting his money from us prematurely and tried to pin us down and threaten for non-performance. Maybe this really has to happen to make us realize that we have to part way. He has screwed us in little and big ways before but because we're new here in Houston, TX..and he is the first contractor we came across..we took him in. We made him richer while it drained our cashflow to more than we can ever imagine. Our cashflow for this property is $1700. To date, after a year of acquiring the property..we have 0 in our bank account because of how much we have paid him before. He always got around things his way...because we were inexperienced with construction. That's why we thank our DG family for support and advices! You guys are awesome!

...it's funny that before we agreed to this last agreement..he was asking us to trade him anything of value like car, jewelry..etc or sell him the property!

Another lesson learned: So little did I know that I can get a home warranty for this 4plex. I always knew that home warranties are for your own home only when you first bought it. So I was wrong. If I hadn't spoken to another investor, I wouldn't have known. Yesterday, I got the property this warranty that will repair all major and minor things..if they can't fix, they will replace. We only have to pay $45 for every occurrence and $66/mo. premium. The only thing they will not do is to put back the walls. That's ok..we'll get someone else to do it..a trusted and recommended by other investors in our area. We know now.

Anyway...I still pray for him...that he will see the light and fix his problems in his current jobs somewhere.. He's alright with small jobs..like a handyman work but not big ones. We both learned our lessons the hard way and definitely will not do this again. We'll be smarter next time. Charged to experience...