Legal Question in Construction Law in California

Hi !

I signed a contract with a builder and during the early design phase went through a divorce (with child support, etc...) my construction loan went from being green lighted to denied due to my new financial situation.

I asked the builder to refund a large amount of money I gave him for Permit Fees advance retainer. The builder refused and instead insisted that he could sue me for 30% of the total amount of the full construction cost.

The contract does stipulate "To cancel this transaction, mail or deliver a signed and dated copy of this cancellation notice. If you fail to cancel withing 3 days required by law you will be liable for up to 30% of the contract amount or a lien for the total amount will be put against your home."

No work whatsoever was done by the contractor on my project.

By law, can the fact that my loan was denied be enough to allow me to "cancel" the contract even-though not specified as a contingency in the contract ?

Thanks !


Asked on 2/20/17, 12:42 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

A contractor cannot charge for work or materials not provided to the project. Furthermore, it is illegal to take more than $500 (might have been upped to $1000) as a deposit. So it sounds like your contractor is in serious violation of the Contractors State License laws. Now the bad news. Unless you make something a contingency, unexpected events are a risk you take when you sign a contract. So you are guilty of breach of contract if you can't go forward. Measure and proof of damages is a complex area of law, but the basic rule is you are liable for the amount of the contract less the cost to the contractor if they had performed. The contractor may argue that the 30% is "liquidated damages," meaning a reasonable estimate of what that number would be, since it is hard to crystal ball what he would have made. I can tell you that after 30 years in construction law, NO contractor makes 30% on a job without committing criminal fraud. Bottom line is that both you and the contractor are in pretty weak positions. If you are both reasonable, you should be able to negotiate an appropriate amount to compensate him for any work he did do and any expenses incurred, and some reasonable amount for lost profits. If he is not reasonable, file a complaint with the Contractors State License Board and make a claim against his license bond for the illegal prepayment.

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Answered on 2/21/17, 8:26 am


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