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Need legal advice from a lawyer. My mother who resides in CT hired a roofing licensed contractor a couple of weeks ago to place on a new roof on the house/ He gave my elder mother on a unsigned contract of 8,850 for the replacement of the roof and also added on the contract to place in gutter quards including with the same price and he did not do it as yet as my mother is trying to secure a home equity loan to make the final payment as my mother has already paid him most of the loan and only owes him another 2950.00 and he has he called today and harrassed both my mother and myself over it as I told him to be patient as the bank is working on the loan process and it takes time. I am disappointed with his attitude and affraid that he could come to the house and harrass more as my mother has dementia and also has other health problems but I told him to wait until the loan goes through in like a week or two and he is demanding payment. He will not get the final payment until he places the gutter guards in and finishes cleaning up the yard from the shingles left behind that he missed. Should I warn him to stop calling the house or face and to keep him of property until this settled by the bank and could I have a restraining order placed on him if he continues to call and threaten my mother or myself. I feel for him and praying as well and especially being a priest but I will not tolerate this much longer with his intimidating behavior and this is no way of conducting business I feel. Thanks again.
Optional Information: Country relating to Question: United States State (if USA): Connecticut Already Tried: Nothing and trying to work it out with the Contractor who resides across state lines into Rhode Island.
Hello!
Greetings
The thing about a contractor is that they have a statutory right to place a mechanic's lien on a property if they are not paid the contract price. Of course, not all of these leins are legitiamte--especially when they breach the contract--but it can be a pain having a non-legitimate lien removed from the property.
If the contractor does place a lien on the property, your mother will definitely not be able to secure her home equity loan.
ouch now that would hurt and believe he may not have done this at this time with this lien.
That being said, you said the contract with your mother was not signed?
I ask because Connecticut requires that a notice of intent to lien be served for those who do not have a direct, written agreement with the owner for the work or materials/services provided. A Notice of intent to lien must be served after work has commenced but no later than 90 days after work has ceased.
So at least you should know in advance if he plans to file a lien. That is, if he follows the law. If he goes ahead and files the lien, she can get it removed on the basis that she didn't sign the contract, but again, we don't even want it to get that far.
I understand your dilemma in wanting to witness to this person but also wanting your mother's rights to be protected here.
yes that is correct when he presented the contract the contract was not signed by both him and my mother when he presented his contract.
Sorry this chat is not working correctly on this end and seems to be freezing up by not sending.
So I think the best thing to do is just to tell him again that your mother is working on the loan, that he still has work to do to complete the contract and that final payment will be made when the work is completed. I would also mention that you are aware he may be considering a mechanic's lien, but that the contract was never signed and you realize how easy it would be to get the lien removed if he did that. Plus, your mother would not be able to get the loan to pay him if he filed any lien. If he balks at this, I would consider contacting the CT contractor's licensing board and filing a complaint. I would also consider the restraining order if he keeps up the harassment. Of course, if you get the restraining order, you will not be able to have him at your mother's, completeing the work, but it is obviously more important to protect yourselves in the long run.
Oh okay, sorry about that! I know they are trying to work out some bugs so we may be on the receiving end of that.
Well thanks for the advice and will try to work things out with this contractor and praying that the loan will go through in a week or so. Your right and I do not want my mother to to have a panic attack at her age of 87. Thanks again for your help.
You're welcome. Just in case, here is the website where you can file a complaint on a licensed contractor: http://www.ct.gov/DCP/site/default.asp. This really causes a head ache for them so I am sure he will want to avoid it. You can also sue him in small claims for breach of contract if he does not complete the work. The unsigned contract will hold up just fine.
The botXXX XXne here is that the law is on your mom's side, but I just want to have you both avoid as many head aches as possible.
Ah yes the unsigned contract and that will not stand up in court at all. Thanks for the link above and will check it out.
Experience: Consumer Lawyer
I am sorry I got booted off. The contract WILL stand up in court, but it will not for a mechanic's lien. Thank you for your accept and for using Justanswer.com. God Bless you and your mom!