Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Illinois
I signed a contract with a lawn service saying I would pay 1% a month if my bill was not paid.
I always pay my bills and my credit is exxceptional. In April I called to tell them my edging on the North side of the house was down and need to be fix, he said someone would be out. No one came but the grass continue being cut. I called again he told me that was the landscapers part of the business and I was on a list ,they would get to me soon. Again weeks went by. I called again . he told me there would be someone there in 48 hrs. Weeks had passed. Wednesday they cut the grass this time cutting the edging on the North side of my house. Hitting my gutter making it swing back and forth and up rooting the edging in front of my house. I called to tell him he was fired and I was stoping payment on the check I sent him for payment(acting in good faith) While I was at the bank he fix the gutter took pictures and did nothing else.
I was told to put the termination in writing-so I did by register mail. Called the Village to document the incident. They sent him a letter from the Office of the Manager reguarding the damage.
My question is --Is the Contract void because of the damage to my property? I'm getting estatements on the repair.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Void? No, you don't want it "void". You mean cancelled or terminated. Void could mean it never existed! You want it to have existed because that's the document that tells what the landscaper's obligations were. Now if as you say fixing the edging was in the contract, that's one thing. If it was not you need to show that fixing it was added by agreement, and that should be in writing. Then his failure to do that work and then damage it both could be breaches of contract entitling you to cancel. But without seeing the contract it's impossible to say whether he had a right to remedy the situation after you notified him and then continue working under it. Most landscape contracts are for the "season" and you could have opened yourself up to liability for his lost profit. Take the contract to an attorney to review to be certain what your rights are, what your obligations to the landscaper are in case he screws up, and what the landscaper's rights and obligations are when he screws up. Getting the Village involved doesn't mean one thing or the other unless the landscaper was supposed to be licensed in town to do this kind of work.
I, too, am not certain what the village can do in this instance unless there was an encorachment of the edging on to the public way. You should make sure to take pictures of the damage before too much time goes by so your pictures reflect the damage that was caused as accurately as possible and not be subject to challenge. Additionally, a stopped check can be treated as a "bad check," simalarly to an NSF check, subjecting you to bank fees and potential civil/criminal liability. You should indeed contact an attorney
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