How to handle Landscaper who took advance of 10k 5 months back and finished maybe 2 %

[Account Closed]

Hi All,

I am currently stuck with a landscaper for 5 months who is not finishing his work as promised. Here is the situation:

We hired the landscaper mid december 2023. At that time he said the project will be done my Mid Jan 2024 or at the latest end of Jan 2024. He took advance saying that he needs to order the material. And then as days passed he kept giving reasons that it has been continuously raining and he cant start the process yet. We waited 2 months until end of Feb 2024 with all his reasons. Even after that he kept giving excuses for not starting the project. We got frustrated and gave him 3 deadlines over the next month for him to finish. He never met any of those deadlines. Finally,  sometime beginning of April we gave him a final deadline until April 30th to finish the project. If he doesnt finish the project by then, he agreed to return full 10K he took in advance by May 1st end of day. We have a written agreement and it has also been notarized. My worry is that it is almost end of the month and he still didnt do anything at all on the project.

What are my options if he comes on May 1st and tells that he has no money or that he will pay in installments? I dont want to give him another chance at all what so ever. My questions are:

1. Will small claim court rule the judgement in favor of us? what are the chances that it will order to return full 10k and not some small amout of it? 

2. Can i get a lien on his property? If so, how do i get it? 

3. Can i hire a collections agency? If so, what should i be aware of?

Thanks in advance!

Thanks,

Akhila

[Tom S.]

@Account Closed  Exactly as Greg posted above, getting a judgment would prob be the easy part, collecting on it, almost impossible unfortunately.