steel building - builder welched out and disappeared

tornadowatchranch · Sep 17, 2010

many years ago I paid up front for a cabinet refacing. He did not show when scheduled and did not answer phone calls. I drove the hour to his shop only to find it locked. Knowing this was a small town I strolled over to the auto shop next door asking about him. They said "wow, really surprised as he is a good guy. Do you want directions to his house?" His eyes were like saucers when I knocked on this door. He showed the next morning and did a great job. I learned a big lesson about when to pay people.

crazyal · Sep 17, 2010

I'm not going to tell you what you should do but I will tell you what I would do. I would hold his trailer until he refunded my money but I wouldn't take anything out of it. At least in this state you can put a lean on the trailer and it's contents but you can't break into it with court approval. I would also file a claim against him with the court, small claims if you can. That will allow you to hold onto his trailer until the case goes to trial or a sttlement is reached. Finally I would send a letter telling the contractor you are holding onto his trailer until he refunds your money. But I would talk to a lawyer as each state is different and if you take the lumber it could be stealing and unless the state grants you ownership of the trailer he still owns it and selling it could get you in real trouble.

Soundguy · Sep 17, 2010

I htink I'd call a lawyer.. then see about the police, then I'd also file a complaint against his county or state contractors license. make sure he can't work anywaher if he ain't coming to work for you.

perhaps find his insurance and make a claim as well.

start as many fires as possible... once it gets hot enough.. I'll bet something happens.

might even be able to record a lien against company or personal property for your losses plus legal fees.

sounds harsh.. but I'm an honest contractor.. I do honest work.. when I hear about crooked contractors.. I don't mind them being strung up by the short hairs.. or staked out over an ant hill...

soundguy

dcyrilc · Sep 17, 2010

Interesting that everyone is bad mouthing this contractor, but the OP has no idea yet why he hasn't heard anything. He stated that this contractor has been doing construction for over 40 years so he is an older gentleman and had good references.

hokiebird said:
Starting over in the building process - getting late in the year. Lessons learned the hard way. I did all the suggested checking with this builder that the BBB suggests. I also looked at previous buildings he had built and was impressed with the quality. This builder had been in business for 40 years. But still got burned.

For all anyone knows, he could have had a heart attack and died. Stranger things have happened. It seems odd to me that the trailer was just left. Very few shady contractors will leave their property exposed like that, especially if the trailer is worth more than the money retained.

If it were me, I would try to visit a personal or business address to see what was happening before persuing other action.

However, all that said, if it does turn out to be a scam, then definately protect your interests in whatever way legally possible.

CurlyDave · Sep 17, 2010

I would consult with an attorney on your rights here first, especially before moving his trailer.

OTOH, I would make certain that the trailer stayed on my property until I talked to the lawyer. Park another vehicle up close & personal with it so it can't be moved, move something big and hard to move into place, blocking its removal, etc. Immobilize it without actually touching it.

Ask the lawyer about the materials on the trailer -- I think they are clearly intended for your job, and since you have paid for them, you probably have ownership, but check before you remove them.

Jim in ICT · Sep 18, 2010

Are you sure that the trailer belongs to your contractor?

EddieWalker · Sep 18, 2010

My parents hire a contactor to add on to their house when I was in the 7th grade. He was highly recommended and showed up every day. His helpers didn't always show up, but either way, he busted his butt to get as much done every day as he could. Then one day, he didn't show up. Turned into weeks and then months. He had all sorts of tools there, and he didn't ask for any money, he just disapeared. We knew he gambled at the horses and that the reason his guys didn't show up was because there were at the races instead. Turned out he was arrested for gambling, but we never learned any details besides that. My dad ended up with all sorts of tools after that. We never heard from him again, even after we'd heard that he was out of jail.

Eddie

farmall40 · Sep 18, 2010

Just wondering, who holds the building permit on this job, homeowner or builder. I ask this becuse in my area there cannot be 2 building permits on one job. If the builder has the permit, he must cancel his before onother contractor can pull one. I am a builder in MI. and ran into this a few years back. The original builder got hurt, and the homeowner hired my company to finish. The other builder had to transfer the permit to me at no extra cost.

wroughtn_harv · Sep 18, 2010

Something is wrong somewhere. Forty years of work means the contractor has weathered hard times before and should be able to handle this period as well.

I think a face to face needs to happen. They're tough. I've had clients that needed a face to face to understand why I needed to be paid. The face to face has also helped me understand in a couple of situations where I was at the bottom of the list and should just get over it because the other creditors were going to get theirs first.

Mousefield · Sep 18, 2010

dcyrilc said:
Interesting that everyone is bad mouthing this contractor, but the OP has no idea yet why he hasn't heard anything. He stated that this contractor has been doing construction for over 40 years so he is an older gentleman and had good references.

For all anyone knows, he could have had a heart attack and died. Stranger things have happened. It seems odd to me that the trailer was just left. Very few shady contractors will leave their property exposed like that, especially if the trailer is worth more than the money retained.

If it were me, I would try to visit a personal or business address to see what was happening before persuing other action.

However, all that said, if it does turn out to be a scam, then definately protect your interests in whatever way legally possible.