Does a previous customer have any claim against me or my business for aproblem that is not related to the repair that I performed?
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Does a previous customer have any claim against me or my business for aproblem that is not related to the repair that I performed?
I am a licensed builder. I am a mason by trade and a sole proprietor. I completed a chimney repair for a customer approximately 2 years ago. Then about 30 days ago the customer called and indicated they were getting water in their attic and asked that I take a look, so I did. I explained to the customer that, in my opinion, the leak was due to faulty flashing. The customer is now leaving threatening messages on my phone.
Asked on July 25, 2011 Michigan
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
As a licensed contractor, you are always subject to scrutiny of people you do work for when problems arise. The prior customer who is claiming water intrusion into his or her attic could very well file an action against you claiming that your chimney repair was defective and allowed water intrusion into the home causing damages and requiring repairs.
Whether a lawsuit is filed and is successful against you is another matter. From a technical sense the prior customer does not seem to have a valid claim against you since the leak is the result of faulty flashing if you did not have anything to do with the flashing from the prior work order. Hopefully you took photgraphs of what you saw at the site when you were last there and kept them for future use.
It is a good sign that the former customer is calling you leaving messages on your phone and not a lawyer sending you letters.
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