Another contractor problem

Doctorman said: they are both Hispanic and I am not sure how much money they have so is it even worth it to be taken to court? how could I collect?

I was going to help, but I am Hispanic. And as you know we do not have enough money for fancy things like computers and the internet. So I will leave this fancy biblioteca and go eat a burrito.

Are you really expecting help?

You have a contract, try small claims court, but don't let the judge know they are Hispanic.

doctorman said: > they are both Hispanic and I am not sure how much money they have so is it even worth it to be taken to court? how could I collect?
Well, as I'm sure you know, the government has placed compensation caps on Hispanic contractors. So it's a pretty safe bet that they have no money.

You should hold all of his lawnmowers hostage until he finishes the job.

thank you guys for the input and I understand the post was not very good I was tired when I wrote it.

I apologize from all Hispanics. this is just my experience with Hispanic contractors not one but more than 4 contractors in one year. they give you a price, they get most of the money before it is finished and they dont care to finish or take care of the problems they cause, and always always late and ask for more money with no shame. contract means nothing to them.
I am to be blamed for hiring them, sure! but they are not all my contractors, my relatives hired them and got stung.
I was thinking maybe all contractors are like that but recently I have met 2 good contractors that did a job cheap clean and fast and professional and did not ask for a penny more I actually had to offer them some during the project, one was Chinese and another Korean.

If I would think the contractors that I am hiring are illegal I would never get them. I would call ICE if I knew for sure that they are.

They toook uhhhhhrrr jeeeebs!!!!

(Seriously, though, are you sure they didn't secretly install a tunnel in your apartment leading to the border fence? I'd check if I were you!)

doctorman said: I apologize from all Hispanics.
From? I think you mixed up your "de" and "a" (as they say in Spanish).

doctorman said: this is just my experience with Hispanic contractors not one but more than 4 contractors in one year.
You know what they say: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me four times..."

doctorman said: I was thinking maybe all contractors are like that but recently I have met 2 good contractors that did a job cheap clean and fast and professional and did not ask for a penny more I actually had to offer them some during the project, one was Chinese and another Korean.
I applied the lessons you learned to banks. I had money invested in Bank of America and Bear sterns, which were run by white people who assured me that their stock was going to make me rich. It turns out they lost me tons of money, so now I never trust white people with my money.

PMonkeyDishwasher said: I applied the lessons you learned to banks. I had money invested in Bank of America and Bear sterns, which were run by white people who assured me that their stock was going to make me rich. It turns out they lost me tons of money, so now I never trust white people with my money.

1) Lord loves a workin' man
2) don't trust whitey
3) see a doctor and get rid of it.

How much is at stake here? If it will only cost a few thousand more to hire another contractor to finish the job, that's probably money well spent and you might want to take your lumps and consider it a lesson learned, rather than try to pursue this guy.

Here's a few helpful hints for the future:

1) Do not let bid price be the sole factor in choosing a contractor. Get references (at least half a dozen customers for whom the contractor has done work in the past eight months or so), call them and even ask if you might stop over to see for yourself how the contractor's work looks. The best value in a contractor is almost never going to be the one with the lowest bid price, unless you exercised some diligence in screening them (i.e. narrow the selection down to ones that were positive referrals from people you know) before you solicit bids. When you talk to the contractor's references, ask if the contractor stuck to budget and schedule. If it seems too low of a bid to be true, it will be and you will find the contractor demanding change orders left and right.

2) Get the names of all of the owner's businesses that he has had for the past three years. Ask the contractor if he or any of his past or current businesses has lost any lawsuits in the past three years and whether there are any judgments against him or one of his businesses. If the answer is "yes" get details and write them down. Then, assume the contractor is lying and verify. Check to see if there are any judgments against this contractor personally and against his businesses in the courts of the counties where he/it is located and does most business. You may be able to do this online or by telephone, otherwise it might be worth your while to take a long lunch break and go in person to your local courthouse. In particular, look for lawsuits against the contractor by a) dissatisfied customers; and b) suppliers and subcontractors who were not paid. Are the judgments paid or are they still outstanding? Are they recent or in the distant past? If what you find is not consistent with what the contractor told you, figure that there's a 90% chance the guy lied to you and will be dishonest with you repeatedly in all of your future dealings, and a 10% chance he was genuinely clueless, in which case he is exceedingly irresponsible and will break most, if not all, of his promises to you. If there are unpaid judgments, you may want to consider the risk that your payments to the contractor, a large part of which are to go toward materials and supplies for your project, may get garnished by some existing judgment holder and the contractor won't be able to obtain the materials to finish your contract.

3) Verify that the contractor has credit with its suppliers. Ask for a list of the contractor's suppliers and call them to verify if there is any information with regard to the contractor's accounts that would lead to a reasonable doubt about the contractor being able to puchase the materials necessary to complete the project. Some suppliers may not be willing to give this information out over the phone, so if needed, get a written authorization from the contractor to talk with the supplier about the contractor's account and credit status.

4) Be sure your contract with the contractor provides that you are entitled to withhold a substantial enough portion of the overall contract price prior to completion to ensure the contractor actually does come back and complete the contract to your satisfaction.

5) Don't be a bigot. Integrity has nothing to do with national origin and can be much more accurately verified by contacting past customers of this contractor than by making assumptions/guesses about the contractor based on stereotypes regarding skin color or accent.

6) Don't be a fool and cheapskate. Reputable contractors charge more because they put together a bid based on actual costs rather than something that is unrealistically low just to secure the contract. Reputable contractors charge more because they know people will pay more to have the peace of mind knowing they will get their job done properly, on schedule and on budget. You're not going to get a Cadillac from someone selling at an Aveo price.

7) Don't tell the contractor up front what your maximum budget is, otherwise the bid will be at that budget and will likely be for less than what you want. When you're in the initial stages, give a reputable contractor a rough overview of what you want and ask for a ball park estimate. Once you have a better idea of what you want specifically and what you can afford, then you can get much more specific pricing information and figure out the details of the project for which you are soliciting bids. If certain features are desired but not essential, have their cost listed separately in the bids you solicit so you can see whether or not you can afford them. Once you have narrowed it down to what contractor you want to go with, get a list of common upgrades and their costs from him, so you can see in advance what extra costs you might want to consider. When you select the contractor, let him know that the contract price is your budget and that you likely won't be going over it for any upgrades.

8) Factor in an extra 3-10% (maybe more) additional funds in your budget for upgrades and for unexpected problems that will require a change order.

PMonkeyDishwasher said: AsylumBoy said: PMonkeyDishwasher said: I applied the lessons you learned to banks. I had money invested in Bank of America and Bear sterns, which were run by white people who assured me that their stock was going to make me rich. It turns out they lost me tons of money, so now I never trust white people with my money.

1) Lord loves a workin' man
2) don't trust whitey
3) see a doctor and get rid of it.
I don't need anything. Just this ashtray. And this paddle game, the ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need. And this remote control. The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that's all I need.

Jerk!

Maybe you should learn proper grammar and spelling before coming to conclusions about Hispanics. Anyway, why would you give them so much money up front? And normally coops are very strict about what kind of contractors they allow so if they were satisfied with his license, maybe it wasn't forged.

lousygolfer said: How much is at stake here? If it will only cost a few thousand more to hire another contractor to finish the job, that's probably money well spent and you might want to take your lumps and consider it a lesson learned, rather than try to pursue this guy.

Here's a few helpful hints for the future:

1) Do not let bid price be the sole factor in choosing a contractor. Get references (at least half a dozen customers for whom the contractor has done work in the past eight months or so), call them and even ask if you might stop over to see for yourself how the contractor's work looks. The best value in a contractor is almost never going to be the one with the lowest bid price, unless you exercised some diligence in screening them (i.e. narrow the selection down to ones that were positive referrals from people you know) before you solicit bids. When you talk to the contractor's references, ask if the contractor stuck to budget and schedule. If it seems too low of a bid to be true, it will be and you will find the contractor demanding change orders left and right.

2) Get the names of all of the owner's businesses that he has had for the past three years. Ask the contractor if he or any of his past or current businesses has lost any lawsuits in the past three years and whether there are any judgments against him or one of his businesses. If the answer is "yes" get details and write them down. Then, assume the contractor is lying and verify. Check to see if there are any judgments against this contractor personally and against his businesses in the courts of the counties where he/it is located and does most business. You may be able to do this online or by telephone, otherwise it might be worth your while to take a long lunch break and go in person to your local courthouse. In particular, look for lawsuits against the contractor by a) dissatisfied customers; and b) suppliers and subcontractors who were not paid. Are the judgments paid or are they still outstanding? Are they recent or in the distant past? If what you find is not consistent with what the contractor told you, figure that there's a 90% chance the guy lied to you and will be dishonest with you repeatedly in all of your future dealings, and a 10% chance he was genuinely clueless, in which case he is exceedingly irresponsible and will break most, if not all, of his promises to you. If there are unpaid judgments, you may want to consider the risk that your payments to the contractor, a large part of which are to go toward materials and supplies for your project, may get garnished by some existing judgment holder and the contractor won't be able to obtain the materials to finish your contract.

3) Verify that the contractor has credit with its suppliers. Ask for a list of the contractor's suppliers and call them to verify if there is any information with regard to the contractor's accounts that would lead to a reasonable doubt about the contractor being able to puchase the materials necessary to complete the project. Some suppliers may not be willing to give this information out over the phone, so if needed, get a written authorization from the contractor to talk with the supplier about the contractor's account and credit status.

4) Be sure your contract with the contractor provides that you are entitled to withhold a substantial enough portion of the overall contract price prior to completion to ensure the contractor actually does come back and complete the contract to your satisfaction.

5) Don't be a bigot. Integrity has nothing to do with national origin and can be much more accurately verified by contacting past customers of this contractor than by making assumptions/guesses about the contractor based on stereotypes regarding skin color or accent.

6) Don't be a fool and cheapskate. Reputable contractors charge more because they put together a bid based on actual costs rather than something that is unrealistically low just to secure the contract. Reputable contractors charge more because they know people will pay more to have the peace of mind knowing they will get their job done properly, on schedule and on budget. You're not going to get a Cadillac from someone selling at an Aveo price.

7) Don't tell the contractor up front what your maximum budget is, otherwise the bid will be at that budget and will likely be for less than what you want. When you're in the initial stages, give a reputable contractor a rough overview of what you want and ask for a ball park estimate. Once you have a better idea of what you want specifically and what you can afford, then you can get much more specific pricing information and figure out the details of the project for which you are soliciting bids. If certain features are desired but not essential, have their cost listed separately in the bids you solicit so you can see whether or not you can afford them. Once you have narrowed it down to what contractor you want to go with, get a list of common upgrades and their costs from him, so you can see in advance what extra costs you might want to consider. When you select the contractor, let him know that the contract price is your budget and that you likely won't be going over it for any upgrades.

8) Factor in an extra 3-10% (maybe more) additional funds in your budget for upgrades and for unexpected problems that will require a change order.

one person answered to this topic nicely and professionally, a true FatWalleter. Stop posting jokes and other useless comments.

THANK YOU