My parents were renovating their retirement home, but my father unexpectedly passed away about three weeks ago. Now, my mother wants to continue with the renovation, and I've been reviewing the contracts and change orders. The total contract was around $165,000, which includes several agreed-upon changes. So far, my parents have paid the contractor $143,000. Now, out of nowhere, the contractor is demanding an additional 20% budget adjustment for roughly $23,000. He sent this request just three days after my father's death, which felt like a low blow. After some back and forth, we've refused this change order because it wasn't included in our agreement. Recently, the contractor threatened to terminate the contract and wanted to charge 20% of the remaining balance to finish the job, plus an extra $2,000 to ensure that subcontractors are paid. We've hired a lawyer, but I'm struggling to convince my mother to pay this man nearly the entire value of the project when we believe he has done only about 70% of the work. What worries me is that even if we win a lawsuit, we might not be able to recover funds since the contractor operates as an LLC with possibly no assets. Also, he's been threatening us with cameras installed in the house to 'watch' his tools, which seems illegal to me. Any advice on how to handle this situation and minimize stress for my mother would be greatly appreciated!
1 Answer
First off, make sure you get lien releases from the subcontractors before making any final payments. It's crucial to have your attorney manage all communication and payment processes moving forward. Don't agree to the additional $2,000 since the contractor should have paid those subs himself all along.
How do I handle that? Should I just pay the subs directly what he owes?