All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Edward Kiser Roofs and drywall don't require permits in my are and it may be the same in your locality. Sounds like a bare bones contract. Shame on you and your contractor for not clarifying specifics. There I assume is no termination of contract stipulation? You can fire him but you will need to pay him for works completed. You both have to agree for what that amount is and use that percentage from the total contract price. Just sounds like he's bad at accounting and not a bad guy. Some folks can swing hammers well but can't balance a checkbook to save their life.

"Let me see the contract." It should show license numbers, insurance, and all the other relevant topics to your specific project. The only real thing to ask is are you going to be able to communicate effectively with the contractor. And it's almost as simple as that.

My $.02. Raise the tent to offset the cost of a management company as best you can. Or raise the rent to give you a raise and just say no. I think if you confront the tennant you'll set yourself up for a much better relationship. I wouldn't say that she's being rude, but she definitely is more a type A personality. It should only take one brief conversation. Just go head on and leave out the feelings; this is business and these are business transactions.

Would it not be wrong to write a single pay lease with a duration of 12 months? So a 12 month term with a one time rent payment of $12,000 and security deposit of $1,000. You get all the money up front and because the terms aren't monthly if it goes sideways in three months you can evict and keep all of the funds.

Sherwin Williams. Sikkens on the decks and porches.

Save a little now or save a lot latter.

$60 per hour.. I'm pretty sure our local average is around $72. Laborers seem cheap but it cost on the back end to have them around like work comp. You mentioned a toilet, specialty trades could be $150 per hour. Your at a good spot $$$ wise. 

Liable for the hours they are dumping on you? Maybe. Depends how your contract is worded. Was there a contract variance? Contact a lawyer. Don't hesitate. Couple hundred for contract review could save you thousands. 

@Shelby Pracht Congrats although very late. I wish I could have helped you but maybe this will help someone else.  We used our local (Midwest) bank to handle payroll at first then found success with a payroll company. Yes it cost a couple bucks per person but liability, stress all a things that are keeping someone else up at night. Not to mention the new hire worries less that they are gonna get stiffed on payday because for all the know their check comes out of the payroll company's account. 

@Jerome Hranka Not the timely response but maybe just fast enough to save you some headaches. The handyman is going to be your first employee? It is probably going to make more sense to get some good reviews on local handymen in your area and use them. If you employ a handyman and you have nothing for them to do will you pay them for not working or risk them leaving because your not paying them? IT is super hard to hire for anything construction in recent years. If your using a handyman commercially you shouldn't be paying private homeowner rates. It may be cost advantageous to outsource until you can keep three handymen busy year round.

Hopefully you contacted an attorney per the last comment. And since you already did I'll just throw some commentary answers out there based on Michigan law and my Licensed Builder knowledge.

1) What I want to know is if the contractor puts a lien on the property if he was crooked could he say we didn't pay the 26k that we paid with cashiers checks plus the 6k? - Probably not. Crooked implying unlicensed? You need a contractors license to file a lien. Cashiers checks can be traced back to the contractor, for a fee of course.

2)  Now if he does put a lien what recourse do we have being that we don't have any written contracts? - In Michigan you need to have a written contract with your licence number to be a valid contract. He would need to prove a contract with preponderance of evidence. (He has no chance but its gonna cost you time and money if he can get this far.)

3) If he isn't licensed and didn't pull permits is there any way we can retaliate by reporting him to the city? Yes and no. Yeah turn him in! I'm down for that, less competition for jobs. First offence contracting without a license is a $5,000 fine in these parts. Jail time if your get caught more than once. Your still on the hook for what you gave him because you could sue but lets be realistic, you have no way to collect. Hes probably deadbeat enough to never have a W2 job or anything else you can garnish. Oh and since he didn't sign off as the contractor on a permit you gonna have to pay to remove his in progress works and possibly fines associated which aren't terrible. I see many of them are about double what the permit would have cost.  

4) Also he bought some of the materials under his own name, so if we decide to cut him off (which I'd like to do) he could always say "well these are mine" and say we stole them is that correct? - No. He'd have to provide receipts which he probably didn't keep. He also willingly left them in your possession which would make for a civil case not criminal.  He would have to take you to civil court to recover the materials. When he tells the judge he doesn't have a licence he will show he has no legal recourse under the law. Case dismissed. But you lost time and money defending nothing essentially, again. 

Always hire a licensed contractor. ALWAYS. It may cost double but your paying for more than the same nail going into the same board. 

This is not legal advice. Just commentary for entertainment purposes only.