Good set of plans best defense against bad builder
RTim Carter
ecently, I spoke to a gentleman who lives in New Jersey. It was a grim call because he was thinking about suing his builder.
I began helping this man more than a year ago as he started to build his dream home. Unfortunately, he signed a contract with a dishonest builder and didn’t discover it until it was too late.
I’ve done expert testimony in building-defect lawsuits for almost 20 years. You might be a homeowner who’s been violated by a bad builder and your first instinct is to extract justice using the legal system.
I’ll share what’s involved, based on my experience, and offer advice on how to avoid legal snafus that can occur.
I’m not an attorney, nor am I offering legal advice. I’m simply sharing what might happen if you decide to jump into the fray at your county courthouse.
Here’s a condensed timeline of what usually happens.
The first step is for you to meet with an attorney to discuss what happened. She or he may then advise you to file a claim or lawsuit against your builder.
The next phase of the process involves fact-finding. Sometimes it’s referred to as discovery. Both parties to the lawsuit might submit questions to the other side and ask for documents and other paperwork that relate to the facts.
Experts are then hired to produce a report about what they see and what might actually be wrong.
Once the expert reports are submitted, depositions might take place. The attorneys, in the presence of a court reporter or stenographer, ask questions of the parties, witnesses and experts, under oath. Any testimony might be used in a courtroom should you take the issue that far.
All of the above requires countless hours, much of Things can go well in the early stages of construction but soon go off the rails. It’s wise to have a good set of plans and specs before construction begins.
it billed at an hourly rate in excess of $175 or $200 per hour.
At this point, the attorneys start to reach out to one another to see whether a settlement can be reached. The expert reports are often like a winning hand at the $500 blackjack table. If your expert has pages of proof that your builder really goofed up, then the builder usually folds. Very few lawsuits actually go to trial.
However, let’s assume you decide not to settle. You want your day in court.
The costs will continue to mount. And there’s no guarantee you’ll win. Even if you do win, in almost all states you don’t get any money that day. You’ll probably be granted a judgment against the builder. You then have to spend more money to try to get the money called for in the judgment. And the builder might not have any money to get.
My advice to you, if you are bent on reprisal, is to meet with your attorney and ask all the right questions in less than an hour. Forget about the builder and just ask all the questions about what it might cost to stroll down the legal pathway, how long it will take, what does the typical settlement look like, and what are the chances of getting any money from the builder.
Gather the hard data and determine whether you should just lick your wounds and spend the money you’d give to your attorney and experts on repairing the defects in your new home.
You can avoid misery such as this with great plans and specifications and itemized bids from your builder. This allows you to give only as much money to the builder as he deserves as the project unfolds. Always have enough money to finish the project if things go south.
A professional builder that’s well-capitalized will rarely object to getting paid within 30 days for work he’s completed.