I’m planning on suing a contractor I did business with, what would I need in order to start the process?
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I’m planning on suing a contractor I did business with, what would I need in order to start the process?
About a year ago me and my associates hired a fashion contractor to do a job for us totally out to $3700. We started earlier in the year and the issue arose 4 months ago whereby she didn’t have enough money to pay a vendor she uses for work. She explained to us the situation how she owed her vendor $650, we told her we’d help her make some of the payment in exchange for more work done, she agreed, about an hour after that conversation she decided to pretty much hold our product, until we paid the vendor in full. We argued that it was her job to pay the vendor not ours and this went on for about 1 month and a half. I finally got her to give us the only and had her sign an agreement which stated all the items she’d deliver along with stating she commuted economic duress by making us pay more money to get our product back. Since then all the work that was promised has been half completed or not done at all and it’s been a year since then. We’ve had to hire other contractors to replace her work and finish what she started or made a new.
Asked on December 3, 2016 under Business Law, California
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
To begin a lawsuit, you will need a summons and complaint. The summons is a court form which informs the defendant that she is being sued by you, the plaintiff.
The complaint (lawsuit) for breach of contract needs to be prepared. There are court forms for breach of contract and you can fill in the information or you can have someone such as an attorney write the complaint.
Include a verification with the complaint. The verification states that you declare under penalty of perjury that information in the complaint is true.
You will also need a completed civil cover sheet (court form) to attach to the complaint.
File your documents with the court and pay a filing fee.
File the original and one copy. The court will stamp the original and copy. After filing with the court, make copies of the conformed copy (court-stamped copy). Then, you will need a process server to serve the defendant (deliver the summons and complaint). After it has been served on the defendant, file the proof of service (an original and a copy) with the court. You can find process servers listed under attorney services either online or in the Yellow Pages.
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