Contractors were suppose to build shutters but messed up and refused to fix it?
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Contractors were suppose to build shutters but messed up and refused to fix it?
Me and my wife are purchasing a to be built home and
it’s 12 days tell closing and we were suppose to have
shutters on the bottom floor windows but the builders
messed up and put the porch light to close to the window
and can’t put shutters there they refuse to fix it and
are trying to get us to sign for a 200 dollar credit
what can I do? Is the a breach in contract?
Asked on April 18, 2019 under Real Estate Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
It is a breach, but it's not a material, or important one: on the scope or scale of a contract for a house, given what you are getting (a house) and presumably paying (tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars), not having shutters on one or two windows is not significant. A not-material breach doesn't give you the right to anything more than the appropriate compensation for the breach. (Only material, or important, breaches give you greater rights, such as to potentially terminate the contract if you wanted.) Whether $200 is appropriate for a lack of shutters is not something we can advise you on--that depends on how you value the shutters. We will point out, however, that if you want more than they are willing to give, you'd have to sue for the money, and lawsuits have their own costs, in terms of money and time: you could spend more suing than the additional funds you'd get. You may be best off simply trying to negotiate up from $200 to a higher credit, but at the end of the day, accepting what is offered rather than insituting litigation.
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