Hello Tim,
My name is Tracy. My husband and I have just built a new home with a subcontractor. We only had a verbal agreement, no written contract whatsoever. Our original agreement was to pay him 6% of only what he manages, NOT the total price of the house. This subcontractor is a framer so we paid him for the framing, labor & materials, up until the sheetrock was completed. We used the crews that he had lined up for the sheetrock.
After the sheetrock was completed, we took over so-to-speak. We used our own crews, our own business & our own laborers. This person had absolutely nothing to do with being our "manager". Now the house is a week away from being completed & he now is demanding the 6% of the total price of the house. This is a total shock to us because this was not our agreement. He threatened to put a lien on our home & prevent us from closing unless we pay him the additional money. Does this guy have a legal leg to stand on? He doesn't even have a framer's license. He doesn't have a builders license & we have no written ANYTHING with him.
- - -
Tracy,
What am I going to do with you and the millions of other people who keep doing things without a written agreement? ? ? ? ?
You are going to spend $250 and have a one or two hour consult with a contract attorney. Call your local Bar Association and they will have listings of attorneys who specialized in contracts and home building. Ask to meet with that person and tell her / him the facts.
See what your options are. Can you DOCUMENT that this person ONLY supervised his work and nothing else? If you can prove you made many phone calls, hired other contractors and supervised the work yourself after the sheetrock was up, you have a strong case. If this person did much of the above and can prove it, you may be getting your checkbook out.
The decision will come in *who* did the management work and can prove it. This is why phone logs are used as evidence in court. If he says he called people, then you tell him to get the phone company logs to support the calls.
Tim Carter
www.askthebuilder.com
W3ATB