I had a contractor and I fired them before the job was done because of poor work and lying about the paint she used. I gave her a deposit of $565. At first I told her things were okay but I found out about the paint today that it was not what I asked ...

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I had a contractor and I fired them before the job was done because of poor work and lying about the paint she used. I gave her a deposit of $565. At first I told her things were okay but I found out about the paint today that it was not what I asked for and also the little wotk she did was not what we agree to. I told her I was not happy and I was going to get another contractor and want my key to my house back and half the deposit back. She refused to give my key back and said this was not done yet and is demanding the full amount which is like $1500 more. She said she was going to sue me, what do i do and what are my rights???

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DakotaLegal's picture

 

 
 
What Do You Have In Writing? Helpfully, you have a written contract. It makes a difference who prepared the contract, if you have to go to court. You can always argue (if the painter prepared the contract) that you did not understand the terms. But this possible existence of a contract is where we start, so you’ll need to look for special language inside any written contract. Some key words will be anything describing “damages” or disputes, or refunds or arbitration, “Claims” or “court costs.”
 
If there’s no written contact, you should sit down and write out everything you can accurately recall. Avoid arguing for points of agreement that are not very clear in your mind.
 
Finally, it’s not true that without a written contract that there’s absolutely no way to have a “contract.” You can sue under an oral contract in Kentucky for property damage. These oral contracts, which are sometimes harder to prove, often end up being just as enforceable. Besides, having an oral contract would probably help you, since the painter is the one who needs to prove specifics.
 
 
Is This Contractor Licensed? Kentucky has special requirements for professional bonding, which includes licensing for many but not all building professions… http://dhbc.ky.gov/Pages/default.aspx. It’s still possible, though, that this painter is also licensed to do other work. Look at their business card, ad, or on their vehicle to see if any license number is prominently displayed.
 
Unfortunately, paining is not among the state required professions for state licensing. http://dhbc.ky.gov/bce/bc/Documents/LICENSE%20REQUIREMENTS.pdf. You still may have some rights, though, by contacting your County or City government and asking if there needs to be a license for commercial painting. While this contractor is busy trying to perhaps frighten you with a lawsuit threat, they may be showing their own bad business practices. If this is how they conduct their business, you may be helping others by reporting them to any applicable Kentucky licensing board.
 
If they are not required to be licensed, they may have other problems, too. Many complaints about unlicensed contractors also go to the Better Business Bureau. http://bluegrass.bbb.org/.
 
 
 
Using Small Claims. Many people have an understandable fear when they hear a threat that they are going to be sued. In fact, you could very well go ahead and sue the painter first. This is especially appropriate in your case, since you have already told me that you don’t believe this contractor is even entitled to all of the deposit. A small claims suit (a Court of Justice suit) can be brought if the total damages is under $5,000. Here’s what the complaint form looks like: http://courts.ky.gov/resources/legalforms/LegalForms/175.pdf.
 
However you get to court, keep it simple. For example, it appears that you paid ¼ up front, so a natal question the judge will ask is if you got ¼ of the work? You can also raise other issues besides the quality of the work. If you can, prove the painter caused other damage, delayed work, or performed the work badly.
 
In getting evidence of why you fired the contractor, consider getting an independent bid to see how much it will cost to fix the bad work. Did you have any witnesses who were there to see you fire the contractor, or who saw the poor work? I’m mentioning this because somehow you found out it was poor quality paint…be able to document, clearly and simply, how you found out she was using inferior product.
 
 

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DakotaLegal's picture

 

 
 
What Do You Have In Writing? Helpfully, you have a written contract. It makes a difference who prepared the contract, if you have to go to court. You can always argue (if the painter prepared the contract) that you did not understand the terms. But this possible existence of a contract is where we start, so you’ll need to look for special language inside any written contract. Some key words will be anything describing “damages” or disputes, or refunds or arbitration, “Claims” or “court costs.”
 
If there’s no written contact, you should sit down and write out everything you can accurately recall. Avoid arguing for points of agreement that are not very clear in your mind.
 
Finally, it’s not true that without a written contract that there’s absolutely no way to have a “contract.” You can sue under an oral contract in Kentucky for property damage. These oral contracts, which are sometimes harder to prove, often end up being just as enforceable. Besides, having an oral contract would probably help you, since the painter is the one who needs to prove specifics.
 
 
Is This Contractor Licensed? Kentucky has special requirements for professional bonding, which includes licensing for many but not all building professions… http://dhbc.ky.gov/Pages/default.aspx. It’s still possible, though, that this painter is also licensed to do other work. Look at their business card, ad, or on their vehicle to see if any license number is prominently displayed.
 
Unfortunately, paining is not among the state required professions for state licensing. http://dhbc.ky.gov/bce/bc/Documents/LICENSE%20REQUIREMENTS.pdf. You still may have some rights, though, by contacting your County or City government and asking if there needs to be a license for commercial painting. While this contractor is busy trying to perhaps frighten you with a lawsuit threat, they may be showing their own bad business practices. If this is how they conduct their business, you may be helping others by reporting them to any applicable Kentucky licensing board.
 
If they are not required to be licensed, they may have other problems, too. Many complaints about unlicensed contractors also go to the Better Business Bureau. http://bluegrass.bbb.org/.
 
 
 
Using Small Claims. Many people have an understandable fear when they hear a threat that they are going to be sued. In fact, you could very well go ahead and sue the painter first. This is especially appropriate in your case, since you have already told me that you don’t believe this contractor is even entitled to all of the deposit. A small claims suit (a Court of Justice suit) can be brought if the total damages is under $5,000. Here’s what the complaint form looks like: http://courts.ky.gov/resources/legalforms/LegalForms/175.pdf.
 
However you get to court, keep it simple. For example, it appears that you paid ¼ up front, so a natal question the judge will ask is if you got ¼ of the work? You can also raise other issues besides the quality of the work. If you can, prove the painter caused other damage, delayed work, or performed the work badly.
 
In getting evidence of why you fired the contractor, consider getting an independent bid to see how much it will cost to fix the bad work. Did you have any witnesses who were there to see you fire the contractor, or who saw the poor work? I’m mentioning this because somehow you found out it was poor quality paint…be able to document, clearly and simply, how you found out she was using inferior product.