What do we do if we signed a contract with a business owner to rebuild a deck on our home and he was paid but has not done the work?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
What do we do if we signed a contract with a business owner to rebuild a deck on our home and he was paid but has not done the work?
We gave him a down payment of $5000 to purchase the wood. That was 3 months ago but he does not return our calls.
Asked on February 6, 2015 under Business Law, Missouri
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
You can sue the business for breach of contract.
Your damages (the amount of compensation you are seeking in your lawsuit) would be the $5000 you paid plus additional costs incurred as the result of the delay in having the deck rebuilt. This would also include costs incurred from hiring another company to do the work.
If you do hire another company to do the work, you will need to mitigate (minimize) damages by selecting a company whose fees are comparable to other companies in the area doing the same type of work. If you were to select the most expensive company you could find to rebuild your deck, you have failed to mitigate damages and your damages will be reduced accordingly.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.