Refuse to pay Unlicence constructor did bad job on Commercial Business.
6/5/2020 at 9:43:57 PM
Hi everyone, In this December I got and sign a contract with the guy on newspaper advertise I was found,he didn't write the times have to be finish the job ( I forgot about it because I am very new to hired someone do for me) but when we talk he said the job will be done in 5 week after we get permit of city. and I already gave him $50.000 on it with cash.I didn't know he does not had permit for generral constructor,HVAC.
But he hired another Electric and Plumbing are licenced.
I didn't want to pay cash but he talk very sweet and I have to argee for the firsttime of my life cause I new in Canada and I don't know English verywell,only basic communication.
He said pay cash but he will provice legal receipt for me but now I dont see anything accept his pen on paper.
In the hand write contract he wrote like it and we both sign.
-Rough in plumbing $10.000 I paid
-Room done $15.000 He did only the framing and asked to get money, I paid.
-Ceiling done $15.000 He did rough-in T-bar with out drop ceiling on it and asked I paid.
-Electric done $10.000 Not done yet but he ask me pay cause we pass inspection
Plumbing inspection pass pay $15000 I did not pay from here.which is still own him about $30.000
-after Paint $5000
and then the rest after final inspection.
Total I paid him $52000 with $50000 reciept and $2000 without receipt.
Story begin.
At the end of Jan 2020,I got a permit,but very hard to tell to come do do the job after he got money,but becase in the contact he wrote if I break contact I will pay penalty.
after call and text he does not anwer,and then he come to did some job I listed above is about 5 month,,from end Jan to today june.
Yesterday,he come to ask me paid more because he pass inspection plumbing,and ask 2 more day will get $5000 after paint. So I refuse to pay him and ask him have to finish all the job to correct,if not I don't pay him.I said I already paid you $50.000 you have to correct everything on what you was did wrong and bad job,total 5 month but he only come to do about less than 15 days,,come on day and disapear and come back one day and disapeard.
He said If I done pay him today,he will take all tools and go back home and leave me alone.
Another thing I was shock when he said he does not have licence so he only can do saturday and sunday to avoid police..OMG poor and stupid me.
So he is did the floor tiles all uneven and unlevel with ground,did everything very urgly.
So my question is can I tell him stop doing anymore becauce I dont want to waste time on my business,and I will hired another one to continuous my business?
Does he can sue me to pay him more what he doing,because he said he does not want to stop and if I stop he will sue me break the contract and he will going to do and asking me to pay the rest.
I really want to stop with him becauce I paid the rental fee of my first business which is expensive $4000/month from Feb until now without any income cause Covid-19 we all lost the job. and I dont know when he is done because he does not mention the time finish on contract.
Do I need to sue back him for any reason? I am very stressful all half year I can not sleep and I don't know when I will bankcrupcy if this still happen.
After we spoke in morning,that afternoon,one stranger text to my phone and said she is sub-lawyer,tell me keep with him and if I break the contact I will pay alot alot penalty
Please please Anyone help me ASAP because he said he will come to do and ask for more money but I afaid he will run away or he did very poor job,I dont want to pay him anymore...
what can I do?
Thank you everyone and I hope everyone stay smile,healthy and safe covid 19.
6/6/2020 at 1:22:46 AM
I'm very sorry to hear about this. I don't know much about your legal recourse but you definitely have to talk to a lawyer regarding this.
6/6/2020 at 7:29:46 AM
I would go to a lawyer. Typically, they give a 30 minute session for free. Lawyer will tell you best course of action.
There can be no penalties to you from contractor, but there can be the other way around, from my own experience.
Terrible situation. Sorry for your troubles.
6/6/2020 at 10:31:16 AM
Very sad story unfortunately because of un-professional and un-honest contractor. Do not worry about what he is saying and go ahead to find another good contractor to finish the work and get your business start as soon as the province ease the lock-down. Act legally against him if he starts any legal action against you, try to keep pictures of what he did wrong along with any written communications between both of you. Get invoices from the new contractor for all the repair work they will do and get a legal advice.
6/6/2020 at 10:57:47 AM
Interesting how stories like this always seem to come out of Ontario - not Quebec, the Lower Mainland or elsewhere (not that they don't exist).
In Alberta a contractor is required to be a 'licensed prepaid contractor' to collect monies up front. The contractor is required to carry bonding and in a situation like yours you could go to the bonding company. Somehow that concept doesn't seem to exist in Ontario. The greatest risk should be dealing with suppliers for things like cabinets and windows where partial prepayment is required and best to deal with established suppliers. For other materials you should only be paying fro those materials when they are physically on site. Any unused materials can at least usually be returned to the supplier or the contractor. Shoddy workmanship is another matter if the issue isn't something Code related. That's where the importance of checking out a number of references (and actually seeing examples of their work) comes into play.
If you were able to find a lawyer (preferably one who speaks your native language) you might gain some useful information from a brief first (usually free) visit. Perhaps they could steer you towards a consumer advocacy organization for more info. If you were to retain a lawyer to battle this contractor you may be asked for $5-$10K in retainer fees just to begin.
This shows the importance of having a detailed contract with payment schedules at key stages. With electrical and plumbing the key inspection stage is the rough-in stage so you shouldn't be paying more than the value of the rough-in.
When it comes to the subject of late completion unless there are specified penalties in your agreement you may not be able to collect anything. Best thing is to incentivize the contractor through 'lien holdbacks' which are mandated by law and permit you to hold back a portion for a period of time upon completion of the contract.
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