Hi,
My parents hired a contractor for their rental property in Kelowna. The contractor gave them a quote, which was about $10,000. The construction was done a week ago, and he is asking my parents to pay additional cost of $ about $4,000. When my parents discussed about additional cost before signing a contract, he said there might be 10% additional cost, but now even with his "dropped" rate, it was 44% extra. We demanded him an invoice for the additional cost, but he refused to provide. He claims that his work is professional, and to make the unit which was "a piece of crap", it costs more. He had to vacuum and shampoo the carpet (which we never asked for), and claimed that painting and materials he used definitely cost more. He refuses to provide any details, and says that he knew this will happen, so he installed two locks on the door going into the unit. And he will remove them once the payment is complete.
In this case, what kind of legal actions can my parents take in British Columbia? My parents are willing to pay for the original estimate, but not this absurd additional cost without any details provided.
Pay him the $11000 max agreed upon, take pictures for proof of everything, document as much as you can, take bolt cutters rented from Home Depot and cut the bolts off, which he has no right to do, and tell him that's all that he is getting per your agreement and he can take you to court if he thinks he can get more. He should have done the legal route in the first place, not threaten your access by taking over your legal right to access your own property! Make sure you summarize everything in a letter when you give payment, better yet, consult a lawyer first and cc the lawyer in the letter. You may be able to counter sue him for pain and suffering as well as lawyer and bolt cutter rental costs, which also should be included in the letter. Should be the last you hear from him, sounds like a criminal who wants nothing to do with the law.
He is not suppose to proceed with any extra even if need it before has a written approval from you. As long as he did it without initial approval from you then it's his problem. However to avoid more argument and trouble you can just mention to him that you are willing to share part of these extra expenses and not all based on providing details and more information on why he has to make it and how much it cost?
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