Protected way to pay contractor

[Lakshmi Kotagiri]

Hi All, what is the best way to pay contractor who work on home repairs. I am having a situation with a contractor that I paid thru zelle. He neither finished job; nor responding to my calls/message. I filed a claim with bank but bank mentioned they will try to recover the money if there is money in the amount. but its not guaranteed. first time got into some thing like this.

[Bruce Woodruff]

What does your contract say about this?  Is the Contractor licensed? How much money are we talking here?

In the future, a) get a super detailed Scope Of Work and ironclad Contract. b) Do not pay more money as a progress payment than the amount of work that has been performed, that way you are never ahead of the Contr or vice versa.

Your options (depending on how much he owes you) are Small Claims Court, the State Registrar of Contrs, and possibly the local DAs office or State AG if the amount is higher ($50k ish)

Good luck, let us know what happens. Good Contractors hate these guys, they give everyone a bad name.