Is it worth pursuing legal actions
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Is it worth pursuing legal actions
We recently hired a contractor to complete a 2 bathroom job. The agreement was
that we would pay some money after demo and partial completion, then the rest
after the second bathroom was completed. The contractor completed the demo and
did a shoddy job on the tile. He still wanted 1/2 payment with agreement to fix,
which he never did nor did he comply with the rest of the agreement. Seeing we
are out an estimated 2500 dollars, is it worth pursuing this con man for our
money back?
Asked on August 2, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Colorado
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
If you can show that he violated an agreement, which it sounds like you can, you could sue him based on "breach of contract" to get compensation--such as the cost to complete/correct the work. A breach of contract suit can be very straightforward: you show the terms of the agreement; you then show evidence (e.g. photos of the condition of the project) and provide testimony about how the agreement was breached; and finally, you show evidence (e.g. proposals or estimates) for the cost to correct. If you can convince the court by a "preponderance of the evidence" (or "more likely than not) that things were/are as you say, you can get a judgment in your favor. If the cost or amount at stake is less than the limit for small claims court (which it apparently) is you can sue in small claims court "pro se" or as your own attorney, which means that the cost to sue--and hence the amount you are risking or hazarding--is very low.
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