As a contractor, can I be sued by a customer to pay for another contractor to correct a problem if I was not paid by the customer in the first place?
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As a contractor, can I be sued by a customer to pay for another contractor to correct a problem if I was not paid by the customer in the first place?
Asked on September 7, 2012 under Business Law, North Carolina
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
If you caused damage or did negligent work, or did not do the work which you were hired/commissioned to do, then the customer can potentially sue you for the cost to correct the problem. On the other hand, if you were not paid for any (proper) work which you did, you could sue (or countersue, if sued by the customer) for that money, since you must be paid for any commercially acceptable work you did at the customer's request. You and the customer could end up with claims against each other, which--if both are proven--end up being netted out against each other to find the total amount owed by one of you to the other.
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