Legal Question in Construction Law in New York

I had an independent contractor hired to remodel my bathroom. Cost was 3700 of which i pad him 1850 upfront.

I had to fire him halfway through the project.

Here are a list of the reasons I fired him in no order:

left house a mess, miss installed my bathtub requiring reinstalation, never removed garbage, miss installed tile requiring reinstalation, never removed construction garbage, let insulaltion fall into my heating system, left debri behind bathtub after install ( i can reach my hand up their and take a photo) damaged my bathtub in several places. I have a written contract on receipt paper. I would like to take him to small claims court. Would I be able to get my deposit back to I can get this resolved?


Asked on 9/26/12, 12:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Kevin Connolly Kevin J. Connolly

You can bring a case. You have good claims. Do you have a tool for extracting blood from a turnip? Unless Judge Judy et al pick up the case, there is little likelihood that you can collect. The damage they did should be handled with a claim against your homeowners' insurance and against the contractor's insurance. See if he has the license required by Buffalo City Ordinances. If he did not, then he committed the crime of unauthorized contracting, and the DA probably has an ADA or clerk who is assigned to these cases. And that may give you leverage but neither I nor any attorney should discuss how that works. Fortunately, his crime is only a misdemeanor, so you're not breaking the law to say, "Pay back the deposit or I go to the cops." If it were a felony, then you would be committing misprision of felony, but there's nothing illegal in you saying that you will not go to the cops, if...

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Answered on 9/27/12, 5:47 am


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