Q: The client signed my contract to add a pool to a home under construction & will not close on home. Do I have to refund
The client signed my contract to add a pool to a home under construction & will not close on the home. Do I have to refund the pool deposit? The Florida pool contract was signed on 4/3/2023 it states in numerous places a 3-day cancellation policy. I was notified about 70 days later that the party wanted to cancel the pool like they canceled the home. Prior to signing the contract I verbally told them to not sign the pool contract if for any reason they thought they would not close on the home. for full disclosure, the client stated the home builder had trouble installing the septic tank and felt they could not trust living there. We the pool builder have incurred engineering and design and sales expenses
A:
Unfortunately, as with almost all issues involving construction disputes, a review of the terms and conditions of the entire written agreement, the very specific facts, and application of any relevant statutory provisions is required to provide anything more than the most general of responses.
In this case, some of the facts that might matter would be the amount of the deposit, the actual value of the work taken in performance of the contract, and whether or not the person with whom you contracted (i.e., the prospective owner) had the authority to allow the imposition of a contractor's lien against the real property. There may well be other other terms of the contract that could be relevant to this attempted potential termination past the three day right to cancel. Most contracts also state that the written agreement supersedes any verbal discussion.
This issue certainly merits a consultation with an experienced Florida construction attorney so as to decide on the best strategy to respond. Another issue you could discuss during the consultation is whether your form of contract could be improved to address this and to provide other clauses to better protect your business in the future.
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