Contractor delays

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Question

Country: United States of America
State: New York

On March 13th, 2005 I entered into a contract with a contractor for an extension on our home. In the contract I neglected to get an end date but was verbally quoted 8-12 to completion. All necessary permits were acquired from the town. We are now entering the 10th month of the project and are still not finished. The contractor promises to come do work and weeks go by with no work being done at all. We are at the point were he'll come once or twice a month and do one thing and we won't see him again. We would like to have our home completed and want to know if the contactor is at all in breach and could we hire someone else to complete the job. We can no longer live like this and would like to know what our options are without getting into a legal battle. The contactor owes us $10,000 worth of labor and material and we owe him that much on the contract.

Answer

Based on what you say here, you could probably file suit against him (or at least threaten to do so) in small claims court or in regular court; filing in small claims court is easier and requires no attorney...you could try to collect all of the costs and damages that you suffered due to his behavior...
References in periodicals archive ?
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This is where my new home should be. The builders have lost the plot; Couple's fury over house delays; TheJudge I'LL GET IT SORTED
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Under Article 689, if the contractor delays in proceeding with the execution of the work or completion thereof so as to render impossible to properly execute it as required within the agreed period of time or if he pursues an avenue indicating his intention not to perform his obligation or does any act that is likely to make impossible the performance of such obligation, the employer may request the revocation of the contract without waiting for the date of actual handover.
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