Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

I hired a contractor to remove two trees for me during the hurricane. This was in August and it

have taken three months due to repeat excuses because of the delay in completing the work,

i.e., (equipment broken, stump grinder not working, lack of crew, etc._) Finally in November,

he hired another company to come in and complete the work. On November 2, the contractor

was suspose to re-install my fence he had to remove to finish the work. After two phone calls

that were not returned, he showed up, out of the blue, with a crew to replace the fince. This was

three weeks later. He also was cutting down a tree in my neighbors yard and blocked my car in

my driveway because he parked his very large crane truck there. I asked him to move and he

refused to do so. I was unable to pick up my daughter from school and he became very indignant

and started to shout at me as to why he was not going to get out from the tree and move his

truck. I called the cops.....and took a photo of the truck that was blocking me in.

The cops missed him moving his truck by two seconds - can I file a civil or criminal complaint

for this contractor refusing to let me out of my driveway , for the obsencenties he was shouting

and for the delay in completing the work he was paid to do three weeks ago? Question, do I

have any legal recourse? Thank you in advance!


Asked on 11/26/11, 5:32 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

No, I see no basis for a viable criminal complaint based upon the

facts as described.

As for a civil complaint, what are your real and compensable damages

that you incurred as a result of this three week delay? (And, no,

I don't mean your feelings of frustration or vexation caused by the delay.)

As for the obscenities which allegedly flowed from the mouth of this contractor

in your direction and the temporary blocking of your driveway by his crane,

I see nothing recoverable by you in terms of civil damages resulting from these incidents.

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Answered on 11/27/11, 2:33 pm


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