Legal Question in Construction Law in Florida

I need to know if I should hire an attorney. October 2008 I filed a homeowners claim for water damage and mold. I hired a contractor to do the work. My insurance company gave us a total of three checks. The first check my mortgage company endorsed and I paid the contractor the $6000. The second two checks my mortgage company kept and put into escrow until the work was finished and inspected. The county gave us a hard time with permits and my contractor was not able to finish the work until the end of July. Once the work was almost done I had the mortgage companies inspector come out and he passed it. A few days later my mortgage company was shut down by the feds. The feds put a hold on all escrow accounts while the mortgage was transfered to Bank of America. We explained to the contractor that we had to wait until the loan was transfered before we could get the rest of the money released. I received a final bill from the contractor on 8/30/09 and He started calling every day demanding money and has now hired an attorney. The attorney says that now the bill has gone from $12000 to $15000 with interest and fees and that we have 15 days to pay or they will sue us. I still dont have the money from bank of america but they tell me that I should have it in the next few weeks and am not sure what to do. Once I do get the money I will only have $12000 and have no way to come up with the additional $3000. Also the county still has not passed their inspection on our house because the contractor never installed the required hurricane shutters. Should I try to reason with his attorney, hire my own or just let a judge decide. I dont want my credit to suffer over something that I have no control over.


Asked on 9/23/09, 5:24 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alterraon Phillips APLaw, LLC

There is a lot of ways to approach your problem and hear are a couple. 1. If you feel the bank is going to pay in the next couple of weeks, I would not stress over it too much. If they pay you, make a copy of the check and send it certified to the contractor. Make sure you get a release of lien from the contractor. At this point, the attorney no longer has a case because you have paid the amount do (accord and satisfaction). The issue with this is you have a counter claim as the contractor has not performed satisfactory and they have not passed final inspection from the county; thus, they are not due all of the payment until they have completed their end of the bargain. You have the right to with hold the amount of money it would cost for you to have someone else ( another contractor) to come in and complete the work. 2. If you feel the back will not pay in the immediate future, I would recommend you higher an attorney that is familiar with construction issues. Your contract with the contractor is an important part of this and should be relied upon to help you in this matter. In construction issues, the oppossing party is not automatically responsible for paying the other party's attorney's fees. Your contract must require it or statute must require it and typically it is the losing party that will pay in that case. Also, who is the contract with? You and the contractor or the insurance company and the contractor? It makes a difference whom the contract is between. Also, the bank is not harmless. A good attorney will join them in this matter as well. Check you contract to see if states interest is due on late payments. If not stated, interest does not apply. Lastly, If the contractor has not fully performed, you want to argue this point. You do not have to pay for uncompleted work.

Hopefully this helps you. If you feel the need to discuss, please feel free to call our office to set up a free 30 min consultation.

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Answered on 9/23/09, 9:10 pm


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