Q: What do I do if I paid half deposit to contractor not doing his contracted duties and I have proof of bad workmanship?
He isn’t following zoning set back rules. I paid a surveyor to certify my property lines. He hasn’t registered his business with my county. He’s not treating my job as a priority and I’ve caught him with bad workmanship with pic proof. He’s been paid a full deposit of half the cost and in the course of 2 months has showed up to work a total of 12 hours. What am I to do? It’s evident to me a made a bad choice using him but I don’t want to lose my investment. Yes we have written/signed contracts. Please help.
A:
You have a written contract, and an attorney should review the contract to make certain you are complying with all your obligations. You should have a zoning inspector come to the property and verify set back requirements are being complied with by the contractor. If there is an issue you should put the contractor on notice by a written document sent according to the contract's notice provisions. If there is defective work, you should put the contractor on notice pursuant to R.C. 1312.04 giving the contractor 60 days to correct the defective work.
While 2 months have passed, this may not be a violation of the contract. Does the contract provide a completion date, or a schedule or critical path of completion calendar. If not, then you cannot simply terminate the contract based upon the contractor not showing up. Your contract should state that "Time is of the essence", if it does not say that then the Court may determine that you breached the contract if you attempt to terminate the contract based upon the contractor's failure to be onsite.
You should request a meeting and ask the contractor to provide a timeline for when the work will be completed.
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