Hiring a contractor to work on home renovations involves a lot of trust. Even if you carefully vetted the contractor before you hired them, you’re counting on their expertise and skill to produce a satisfactory final product. When the results are far from what they promised, it can be extremely frustrating. Luckily, you do have legal recourses for horrible contractor jobs.
Resolving the situation without litigation
No one relishes the idea of having to go to court to resolve their disputes. Under certain circumstances, you may be able to take care of the situation without the need to set foot in a courtroom.
If the contractor you hired is officially licensed, you can contact Alabama’s contractor licensing board to file an official complaint. The law requires contractors to include their license number in any contracts they sign with you, so you will be able to provide it in your complaint.
It’s possible that the board can orchestrate a solution for you, such as requiring the contractor to repair any damage they caused or redo shoddy work. If desired, you can hire an attorney to assist you in the preparation and submission of this complaint.
If your contractor was not licensed, or if the board is unable to help you, you may have to resort to a lawsuit in order to recover the cost of getting the job done right.
Sometimes litigation is necessary
If you decide to bring a lawsuit, there are a number of costs you can try to recover from the contractor. For example, you can sue to recover the money that you paid to the contractor for the job and the cost it will take to repair any damage done.
Construction defects are anything your contractor does that lowers the value of your home. In order to prove construction defects, your attorney may need to call expert witnesses to testify as to the damage the contractor’s actions have done to your home’s value, in order to show why you should be able to recover for it.
No one should have to pay for a project that devalues their home, and then pay again to have it fixed. The legal system offers you the ability to seek a recovery in these situations so that you can get the job done right.
