Contractor Report Cards

Nail down who you are doing business with before you hire them.

Your home is probably your biggest investment. Odds are, your insurance will not cover a bad contractor. The police cannot help you unless the contractor actually steals something big and you can prove it. Your only recourse is to get a lawyer and sue the contractor, and you cannot sue someone you cannot find or identify. After they have destroyed your home, you will never be able to track them down to hold them responsible.

Some of these guys use fake addresses, burner phones, and even frequently change the name of their business to avoid debts, lawsuits for bad work, and bad online reviews.

A contract describes the job, identifies the homeowner and the contractor, and protects both.

• Verbal contracts are worthless.
• You do not need a lawyer. Just write it all down and sign it.
• If there is a problem, the contract will remind everyone what was supposed to be done.
• Unless you have a contract, you will likely lose any dispute.
• If the contractor will not put it all in writing, go on to the next one.

Contracts 101

Write down what you want the contractor to do in some reasonable detail, how much you are paying for the job, when it is to start and finish. Any contractor with good sense will do this as a quote, and probably include more terms besides. Accepting the quote makes it a contract, so pay attention.

• If they do what they said, and you don't pay them, they can sue you.
• If they don't do what they said, do not pay them, until they do.
• If you pay, that means you are satisfied and the job is done.

With the introduction of online contractor payment services, many will ask you to give them your credit card information to be used for future payments. They may even say this is a requirement. DO NOT DO IT.

Be very careful when using online payment services provided by the contractor. Look for text and check boxes that say you agree to storing your card information for future use.

Once your card is stored, you have no legal recourse for the most common contractor abuses. The judge will say you gave them the card, so they used it. Your fault.

Once your card is stored, there may be no way to remove it from their system.

Their are only two circumstance where stored cards are marginally acceptable:

• You have a written and signed contract describing exactly when and why that card may be used.
• If the contractor has earned your trust, and your card allows virtual card numbers that can be turned on and off at will.

Even then, watch your statement for unexplained charges. Follow up with the contractor, and turn off the card.

A real case:

A homeowner gave his card number to a contractor for mowing services, and the person on the telephone promised him that they would only use it for mowing. Then the homeowner hired them to do a big cleanup job on the yard. They do a poor job of it, and so you hold the payment until they do it right and finish the job. Only they use the stored card to take the payment for the unfinished job, and there is nothing you can do about it. You have been cheated. Now you have to hire another contractor to finish the job the first one left unfinished.

• Many "contractors" are just some guy with a pickup truck.
• Some are not local, but may be moving through your area, staying in motels or with friends.
• Many are not licensed by any government office or professional standards organization.
• Licensing often does not verify the contractor's identity, address or telephone.
• The contractor can change contact information without informing the licensing entity.
• They may have no liability insurance that would protect you or your property.
• The addresses they give are frequently not their actual business or even home address.
• The phone numbers they use are often mobile and completely untraceable.

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