Contractors WORSE FEAR

mxim

well at least one of them. what do you guys do when someone does'nt make the final payment and starts to come up with bs excuses not to pay? most of the time there are red flags but what happens when you are caught off guard?
that happened once to me 2 years ago and we quickly ripped out all the cabinets. we lost money but it cost them much more.
gotta be very careful with some people,especially lawyers.don't get me wrong if they have a legitimate beef thats one thing but when they come up with bs excuses,thats ROBBERY and you can't just assume the courts will take care of everything.

silvertree

Once something is installed it belongs to the homeowner whether they pay you or not. A rolling island you could probably take back, a toilet or kitchen cabinets, no you can't, destruction of property. At least thats what my lawyer told me.

Cole

You are correct sir.

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Putty Truck

That's not my worse fear. Liens take care of that easily enough.

My worse fears are bogus sexual harassment lawsuits, hidden cameras, and other assorted lies.

BuiltByMAC

I load my payment schedule so my final payment is usually less than 10%. I've not had anyone try to stiff me yet but if they did, <10% loss won't ruin me.

Gotta agree that once something's been installed, it can't legally be ripped out. You got lucky they didn't go after you for taking the cabinets out.

Actually, my worst fear is a death caused by a failure of something I built.

Mac

dkillianjr

Ya screw money, thats deffinetly my worst fear too. That would be freakin terrible.



Dave

dirt diggler

there is pretty non-threatening language to use in contracts that would quell any fears you all have about deaths and final payments.

i can't understand why guys will make the final payment so large. 10% to me is too much. I do 0.5%, if that. Most of the time, the final payment is barely large enough in itself to pay the phone bill. I'll never make a special trip to pick the check up - always have it mailed.

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woodmagman

You need a service new provider, if phone costs are that much

Heritage

HO didn't pay me so I did what the other guy did and "took my work out".

In my case it was 2500 sq/ft of drywall that I had hung and taped.

Charged with "Mischief", now I have to go to court.

Once it's on "the house" it IS the HO's property.

I would have to say LIEN, LIEN, LIEN. Followed up by lawsuit. Don't give up, stay with it. Interest accrues. Once you get judgement...sit on it. Don't expect to see the money any time soon, you have to just put it off to the side but once you get judgement you have something like 10 years to collect...maybe more. Eventually you'll get the money, plus a buttload of interest to boot.

Keep payments ahead of work, never never NEVER give the HO control. They don't like the payment terms? Move on. If you have to spend half of your time worrying whether you are going to get paid or not what kind of a business are you running. This is my second year in business and I've had it all happen to me. Contract. Payments ahead of work. Sign "additional work" forms. They don't pay? Pack up and leave, go back only when payment is met.

Don't try to be a "nice guy". Business is business.

But as for the worse fear? I would definately have to agree that somebody dying as a result of MY negligence or one of my employees dying period.

You can't put a price on that. Screw money, whether we admit it or not every day we go into work could very legitimately be our last.

I have one carpenter who fell three times in the last two years. One of them was 3 storeys, 3rd floor all the way to the basement.

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dirt diggler

lol

in all seriousness - that's how low though i make the final payments

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troubleseeker

Lucky to escape on that action. You cannot legally remove any installed materials froma job, whether you get paid or not.

skylands

Well,,, years ago my friend (who owned a septic pumping company) got stiffed on a pump out. After several attempts to collect with no success, he pumped her tank full. She paid.

Putty Truck

I've never thought about that. Death by toilet bowl? Drowning due to flooding?

Yikes, one more thing to worry about.

stacker

that might be true,but most people dont know that and if you start to take things down,its funny how quick they come up with the balance of what is owed.

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kevjob

on my contracts final payment is usually around 500 on a 20,000 job so as none of the BS with HO comes up.

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oldfrt

Well,,, years ago my friend (who owned a septic pumping company) got stiffed on a pump out. After several attempts to collect with no success, he pumped her tank full. She paid.

Years ago,I heard of a mason who would install a piece of glass in a chimney.If the HO paid,he'd toss a stone down the chimney to clear it.
If the HO didn't pay,good luck finding the problem!

mxim

jobs that will only take a few days to do,i get 50% down and the other 50% when completed.as long as its no more than a few days work.

L. B. Condulet

You couldn't be more wrong. If you look at your installation, and in your opinion it is unsafe and poses a threat of injury to someone, you better rip it off the walls!

wizendwizard

Thats my way also. 1st. payment of 50% covers all materials and labor cost. Last 50% is MY profit. If they stiff me, i am only out that. If they try to stiff me, i have a nice lien entitlement letter i send out.(form letter worked up by my attorney). Never had a customer argue with it yet. Usually payment is in mail the next day.

mahlere

i seem to remember a thread about this...wondered what the outcome was...