Q: Do I have a case? See More Information
I hired a contractor to clean a house. I labeled an item not to be dumped but one of the contractor’s employees took it. The contractor admitted via text he had the item and it was his fault. We made no agreement on how he was to return the item. Three weeks later the contractor left the item in the house's garage while no one was home. He had his family with him when he dropped off the item.
One possibly important fact: I hired a painter to do some painting and he accidentally left the garage door open. He left the house and that is his entire involvement. One day later the item was left in the open garage by the contractor. So the contractor, seeing the open garage, assumed someone was home and left the item.
Three days later I returned to the house and the item was missing. I filed a burglary police report.
The contractor refuses to pay for the item.
Do I have a winnable case here?
A: That is called an intervening superceding criminal act, and I believe it might be a defense to you suing the contractor. So, the best thing to do before you file a lawsuit is to go see an attorney about this. The contrator returned the item, but someone then stole it. The contractor is not responsible for the criminal actions of another. Perhaps there is some way around that defense.
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