Backcharges

Plumbnuts

We have recently quit working for a General Contractor. They are a month late paying us and we are getting no response from them. They just sent me an enormous amount in backcharges The amounts are rediculous!! I have already sent out "Intents to lien" notices. I obviously don't want to deposit any money short of what they owe us. My question is..How do we dispute the backcharges? I know an attorney is in my future, but was wondering if anyone has come across this.

jmic

Plumb,
Are any of the back charges legit? What are they based on ie.. Not keeping job site clean ( picking up after yourselves), faulty workmenship,damages accured from faulty workmenship,. Did they notify you that they would be back charging you? Did you respond to their concerns? Just trying to get a fuller picture before I can really come to any conclusion.
Joe

Bob Kovacs

Is there anything in your contract regarding how long they have to issue a backcharge? What notice is required to give you time to correct?

Are the backcharges to finish work that was in your contract that you didn't do prior to "quitting"?

It's impossible to answer your question without getting more detail.

Bob

Grumpy

Welcome to new construction.

red_cedar

the first thing an attorney would say after you told him the money was not forth coming is 'lien the property'
Dont mess around with some 'mope' who trying to bust your behind. IMO

jmic

Don't know if it's the same all over but here the G.C. would be able to bond the lien and tie you up for a long time, you might be better to try to work it out. You have 90 days to place lien.
Joe

mdshunk

GC's that are having money trouble start to play the backcharge game. Lein the property and don't do any more work for him.

ConcreteGuy

And document issues that have cost you money by the gc's actions or lack of action. If he slaps you with a $3,000.00 cleanup backcharge, by some miracle, your backcharges against him equal $3001.00, heh heh.

But seriously, you have not addressed the legitimacy of his claim against you. If you have underperformed, you deserve it.

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A reasonable expectation becomes an assumption when it goes wrong.

Plumbnuts

Some of the backcharges may be legit. They are for work performed by the new plumber to move plumbing etc. The amounts are definitely not legit. ($800. for something that may take an hour.) Some of the backcharges are for work that was not our responsibility to begin with. We were not notified of the backcharges and were not given a chance to respond to their concerns. They are for work performed after we no longer worked for them. (we are to be notified per the contract) The backcharges are on homes that have nothing to do with the bills they have not paid us for. I have filed the liens in less than three months after the work was complete. We never were backcharged in all the time that we worked for them. They owe us $16K and have backcharges for $10K!

mdshunk

How can you let a single customer get into you for so much money, anyhow? Back charge legitimacy aside, there seems to be a more fundamental operational issue at hand here too.

jmic

Md,
Not that 16k is a trivial amount, but it doesn't take long to get much higher amounts with builders on the books. But you really need to have a good relationship with them or they'll bring you down in a heartbeat. But from the short time I've been here I can tell you've been around the block and well aware of this..... so why am I saying all this?

mdshunk

Maybe to remind me that I can be a prick? Yeah, I agree. I suffer from the same problem from time to time. Every once in a while when I get a call from the GC, saying, "Hey, we're ready for you next week at 123 Maple Street", I say, "Okay, I'll be there just as soon as I get my check for 119 and 121 Maple Street."

Plumbnuts

That was for less than 2 weeks work. It's new contruction...we only get paid once a month. Our billing just to that contractor is usually about three times that.

Plumbnuts

I totally agree with you. This contractor, after I checked county records, has had quite a lot of experience with liens. I know now to check that out before signing a contract: