Legal Question in Construction Law in Virginia

I am in a hard spot. I purchased a parcel of land and paid 50,000 for it. I contacted a builder to build a house for me on it. I asked that he include using a specific contractor to put in a pool and landscape for the house. They included a clause in the contract that they would stated as part of addition items included (Contractor Name) design allowance of ( X amount of dollars). Plans and estimates provided by contractor. Very little coordination happened until it was about time to order the pool. The General Contractor did reluctantly cut a check for the pool guy to order the fiber glass pool roughly $26,000.00. There is a dispute that they did not agree to terms on how they would work together. The contractor used a line of his own credit to build the house this was not a construction loan. The pool and patio contractor wanted more money to obtain more materials and things got heated. The contract said as soon as he installed the pool he would pay for the rest. The pool contactor did not have the funds to do that upfront. No permits were obtained and lots of finger pointing. Closing was approaching and I had signed away my parcel of land to the General Contractor. This left me in a bind as I had over $60,000.00 invested in this house already. The General Contractor told me we had to close the house and the only way to move forward at this point was to remove the pool from the contract or I would face a suit for failing to close the contract and lose everything I had invested as I had signed over the parcel of land to him to be used as down payment non refundable to be included in the loan. meaning he would pay me 50,000 for the land towards the loan. I know have to eat $26,000.00 paid towards the pool guy for money disbursed that was not installed. In state of duress I went ahead and signed an agreement to remove the pool and assume the $26,000.00 in a forma amendment just to close on the house. So now I am closing on the house and immediately paying the contract almost $26,000.00 for monies he paid toward pool.

The General Contractor feels the pool contractor is committing fraud and started some legal actions to either return the money or produce the pool. The invoice / sales estimate that I will inherit at closing states SPECIAL ORDER ITEM(S) - NO CANCELLATIONS OR

RETURNS AFTER PRODUCT SHIPPED FROM VENDOR. NO REFUNDS OR RETURNS. ANY DAMAGE OR DEFECTS MUST BE REPORTED WITHIN 24 HOURS OF RECEIVING PRODUCT. Now the pool contractor responded he would need the General Contractor to provide a date he would have a crane ready to off load the pool and a licensed blue Hawaian Contractor ready to install the pool. I do not know where that requirement came from nor was it every discussed. I think I need some legal advice


Asked on 1/19/17, 7:06 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Yes, I would agree with your surmise that at this late date you "need some legal advice",

and therefore would be well advised to arrange for a consultation with

a local attorney who handles real estate closings and construction contract

matters, and who, after reviewing the legal paperwork and relevant facts

surrounding these matters, should be able to advise you, accordingly.

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Answered on 1/22/17, 11:34 am


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