Q: Three years ago my 90 yr. old mother was pressured by a contractor into agreeing to remodeling work .
She paid $4000 up front and then changed her mind. She called within 24 hours and sent a certified letter (no signed return receipt received). My brother found out later the address given for the company was an empty lot. She did receive a letter from contractors attorney saying the contractor had bought the materials with the money; however, non were ever delivered. When my mom told the contractor she was going to contact the AG’s office, which she did, he threatened to come over to her house. That scared her.
Now that she finally let her kids know about the situation we are wanting to know if there is anything that can be done to get her money back or has it passed the statute of limitations?
A:
From the facts, it sounds to me like you may be describing a breach of contract claim that your Mother would have against the contractor here. This link provides information on common Tennessee statutes of limitations https://statelaws.findlaw.com/tennessee-law/tennessee-civil-statute-of-limitations-laws.html
The statute of limitations for lawsuits regarding contracts is 6 years. Another issue you may have is your ability to locate that contractor 3 years later if he is no longer in TN.
Your Mother may consider reporting the contractors action to the state of Tennessee here: https://www.tn.gov/commerce/regboards/contractors/consumer-resources/file-a-complaint.html
You may want to consider consulting with an Attorney to determine what options your Mother has to possibly be refunded the $4,000 she paid for materials that were never delivered. Good luck.
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