We hired a contractor to do work on our home. He wrote up a contract, we paid in full the contract amount and now contractor is billing for additional money
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We hired a contractor to do work on our home. He wrote up a contract, we paid in full the contract amount and now contractor is billing for additional money
We have a contract amount that has been paid in full and 30 days after they have stopped work on the project, now he is billing us for ‘extras’. We have nothing in writing in regards to said extras, nor did we say we would pay for said extras during any stage of the construction process. Where do we stand in this situation? What should we do? How should we respond to the contractor – specifically what should we say? He is licensed and bonded. I don’t think he will respond with a level head if we said we are not going to pay ‘extras’, as he has been texting and bullying us about payment. Should we contact the Surety Company or file a complaint with CSLB? Also, the concrete poured never cured. He is trying to blame this on us. What should we do? Also, we asked him to touch up paint in a few areas since concrete splashed all over our brand new wall and he failed to place column rocking in two places. He took final payment on his own via our credit card without our approval and without telling us. Payment has already posted. Please help. Thank you
Asked on June 25, 2018 under Real Estate Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Did you request anything that was beyond what was in the contract? If you did, you owe him additional amounts: the contract required you to pay $X for Y work, but if instead you had Y+Z additional work done, you have to pay for whatever exceeded the contract.
Conversely, if everything done was within the scope or terms of the contract, you only have to pay the contracted amount.
It really comes down to did the work you requested exceed the contractual specifications?
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