Anyone here had to deal with sueing a subcontractor/business?

[GeorgeG.]

Long story short, the mechanical contractor we used for the plumbing work (new house construction) basically bailed out after being advanced quite a bit of money thanks to our builder. They completed the rough in which amounts to about 1/3 of what he was advanced. They stopped responding to our calls and have made it clear they have no intentions of resolving this.

I'm basically looking for some direction before calling an attorney. After reading a little bit online, going that route is almost no better because of the attorney fees incurred. We have invoices, checked made out to the company, email and text communications...just about everything that looks like it would be a solid case.

Their plumber basically fucked up, delayed our job for ever. After bringing it to the owner's attention, they ultimately fire him and hire a new master plumber. We meet with him and seems like all is well. He said it wasn't too bad, less than two weeks of work to complete. The following week, we follow up via text to see when he's going to start and his response was a complete 180. Now he said he looked over the contract and since the plumber signed it and not the owner, that the contract is with him, even though it has the comany name on it. Not to mention the two checks being made out to the company and cashed by the owner.

Needless to say I'm fuming over this.

[txstangnut]

In Texas small claims is 20k so if under that do it yourself

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[garycrist]

Make sure you 1099 him. I once subbed for an out of state
company. Long short, he did not pay me. I paid my taxes on
the anticipated pay with my own 1099.

After the IRS audit started at said employer, he called and wanted
me to change testimony, the 1099, and he offer to pay me more.
IRS really liked that too!

[bubbaearl]

blood from a rock . sounds like your builder is a dick head with little experience . any builder worth a damn has subs he knows and uses . the money paid out should have been out of his pocket not yours .

[talisman]

The thing with small claims in Texas is, even if you win, the judgement will not be enforced. You will likely never see a dime. No, they will not garnish his wages, either. That would effect his credit to a degree, but it is basically worthless. I would be more interested in pursing fraud charges if I found myself in that position.

[Grape]

blood from a rock . sounds like your builder is a dick head with little experience . any builder worth a damn has subs he knows and uses . the money paid out should have been out of his pocket not yours .

typical builders..........somone's gonna get fucked, but not them.

[GeorgeG.]

In Texas small claims is 20k so if under that do it yourself

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

Well, the difference is about 25k to be honest. This is exluding the amount listed on the contract for rough in.

Make sure you 1099 him. I once subbed for an out of state
company. Long short, he did not pay me. I paid my taxes on
the anticipated pay with my own 1099.

After the IRS audit started at said employer, he called and wanted
me to change testimony, the 1099, and he offer to pay me more.
IRS really liked that too!

I'll have to research this... thanks though

blood from a rock . sounds like your builder is a dick head with little experience . any builder worth a damn has subs he knows and uses . the money paid out should have been out of his pocket not yours .

I couldn't agree more. The plumber he normally uses wasn't available or didn't want to drive this far or something like that so he looked up plumbers online and came across this reputable company. So I give him credit for at least finding a reputable company. He fucked up though advancing the money. And as far as I'm concerned, this is coming out of his cut.

The thing with small claims in Texas is, even if you win, the judgement will not be enforced. You will likely never see a dime. No, they will not garnish his wages, either. That would effect his credit to a degree, but it is basically worthless. I would be more interested in pursing fraud charges if I found myself in that position.

what about filing a complaint on his state license after winning a judgement? If using a lawyer and not small claims court, could the outcome be any different as far as collecting?

[bubbaearl]

thing to remember . any money given up front is way more than the profit from the job . 0 incentive to do the work . any sub or contractor without working capitol is 1 week away from failure . i will never put any money up front period .

[txstangnut]

Well, the difference is about 25k to be honest. This is exluding the amount listed on the contract for rough in.







I'll have to research this... thanks though







I couldn't agree more. The plumber he normally uses wasn't available or didn't want to drive this far or something like that so he looked up plumbers online and came across this reputable company. So I give him credit for at least finding a reputable company. He fucked up though advancing the money. And as far as I'm concerned, this is coming out of his cut.







what about filing a complaint on his state license after winning a judgement? If using a lawyer and not small claims court, could the outcome be any different as far as collecting?

Make sure you pursue fraud and theft of services. Get the cops involved. That amount is probably a felony.

My cousin went through the same thing and finally got the guy locked up.

Get a judgment and put a lean on everything you can.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[talisman]

what about filing a complaint on his state license after winning a judgement? If using a lawyer and not small claims court, could the outcome be any different as far as collecting?

I am not familiar with those avenues but it is certainly worth looking into. If you're going to make your contractor eat the loss for making the decision, I'd wash my hands of it and let him handle it though.

[bcoop]

I'd pay an attorney to write a demand letter, at the very least. You can get a judgement in small claims court, but that's about it, and in my experience they are not enforced. I'd also file a complaint with the licensing board and BBB.

Aside from the demand letter, all of that can be done by you. If those avenues don't produce results, you can then post reviews online and move forward with small claims or a lawsuit if over $20k. Former coworker sued his a/c contractor, pool sub, and builder. I want to say he sued for $250,000 or so. It's been going on for 4-5 years, and still isn't finalized. Even when it gets finalized, collection is a whole other issue.

[GrayStangGT]

I would definitely contact TDLR and see what avenues they have with making a complaint and maybe screwing up him being able to renew his license.

[kingjason]

The thing with small claims in Texas is, even if you win, the judgement will not be enforced. You will likely never see a dime. No, they will not garnish his wages, either. That would effect his credit to a degree, but it is basically worthless. I would be more interested in pursing fraud charges if I found myself in that position.

I won a case well before being in law enforcement for 1900.00 with no lawyer. I filed the case and went to court against a shitty auto shop. Beat that guy no problem and he had an attorney. They issued a judgement that stayed with him for like 7 years and I could have renewed it for 50.00 (I may be confusing this with the house lien). Now, this guy was a broke dick so in that case you are correct. But had the guy had money I could have went down to the Constables office and filed a writ of attainder or something like that for a small fee. They will physically go take shit from people and I am not sure if they auction it or you auction it. Now, the kicker was he had to have excess, so if they had two people in the house they were allowed to keep two TV's, cars, etc etc. My guy lived in a rent house and had one car, so I was SOL. I could have put a lien on his house had he owned it and when he sold it they would have to cut me a check. I was looking up a address the other day on JCAD and saw a house that had a contractor lien on it. Been 25 years though, and I can't remember all the specifics, and I am sure things may have changed.

Make sure you pursue fraud and theft of services. Get the cops involved. That amount is probably a felony.

My cousin went through the same thing and finally got the guy locked up.

Get a judgment and put a lean on everything you can.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

I took a similar style case a few years back. Same BS as the OP, allegedly the guy used their letterhead and didn't actually work for them, which he did at the time (people lie). When the police started calling them they decided to fix the peoples roof out of the pure kindness of their heart. When I got to looking for the actual guy, he was locked up already for a shit load of similar crimes, what a surprise.

To the OP. Whether the police take it or not versus it being a civil issue will depend a lot on whether it was straight lies, or if it was just a mistake they needed to fix. Plus, they may have similar cases with him. Also, don't be afraid to represent your self in civil court.

[talisman]

I could have put a lien on his house had he owned it and when he sold it they would have to cut me a check. I was looking up a address the other day on JCAD and saw a house that had a contractor lien on it. Been 25 years though, and I can't remember all the specifics, and I am sure things may have changed.

There are exceptions though. Most people in Texas (if they're smart) have a homestead exemption filed on their house. You can still file the lien and will get it, however if you attempt to block the sale of his house that he has that exemption on, he can turn around and sue you. If he is smart he will get a lawyer involved and then you better release the lien or open yourself to litigation. If it goes that far, he will win in court. Convoluted as hell.

[BradM]

Are you building in VA?