After receiving our deposit, contractor wants to terminate agreement and keep deposit
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After receiving our deposit, contractor wants to terminate agreement and keep deposit
We hired a contractor to install a 1/2 bath and laundry sink in our basement
here in Lansing, Michigan. We paid a total of 1250 in deposits. Now he said
he’s no longer interested in the project since we didn’t buy our cabinets
through him. His email said he ‘feels like just an installer rather than the
general contractor’. The agreement mentions nothing about having to buy
cabinets or any materials through him, and at no point did he mention we had
too. Had we known previously, we wouldn’t have entered the agreement or given
him a deposit. Can we get our deposit back? The amount is under the limit
for Small Claims Court in Michigan.
Asked on July 24, 2018 under Real Estate Law, Michigan
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
You can sue the contractor for breach of contract for failure to do the work and for insisting that you buy cabinets, etc. through him which was not part of the contract.
Your damages (monetary compensation you are seeking in your lawsuit) would be the $1250 deposit total you had paid.
You can file your lawsuit in small claims court. Upon prevailing in the case, you can also recover court costs which include the court filing fee and process server fee.
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