This section deals with just some of the e-mails I've received from people nationwide who have been "burned" by their contractor. These remodeling and building nightmares are duplicated time and again throughout the country ad nauseam.

With an increasing number of contractors violating construction laws both at the State and local levels, consumers have to be much more cautious and discerning when it comes to hiring contractors.
If the contractor is dragging his feet, shows up only a couple of times a week, always with an excuse as to why and PROMISES things will get moving again, Don't Buy It! Wishing and hoping is not going to change anything. Time to take the steps in "When Problems Occur" with your contractor.

If the contractor asks for more more money for something he screwed up and has to re-do, PLEASE don't give it to him. That's his problem and most reputable contractors know that. You'll likely not see him again because he doesn't know how to fix it and you'll be frantically trying to track him down.

If a contractor asks you to pre- pay for a portion of the job he has yet to complete or start for any reason he gives, don't be foolish and hand it over. He hasn't earned it yet and it's a sign the he is in some financial straights. Which means you better get prepared for the worst.

Don't let a contractor threaten you with the filing of a mechanics lien against your property because you've confronted him about problems with the project or he refuses to correct problems he'll have to pay for out of his pocket. He'll never perfect the lien unless it's legitimate. Read the article on Mechanics lien.

Don't expect the Contractors State License Board or any other regulatory agency to save you. There is only so much they can do administratively and once the damage is done, you're screwed. Sorry, but I need to be blunt here. Many people get frustrated when they file their complaints hoping to get some relief and justice only to find the process prolonged and the contractor happily skips on to his next victim. But Take Heart: You're at the very least giving him a black mark on his record for the next homeowner to take notice of, so do file that complaint.

Don't ever rely on oral agreements; they'll never happen. Get it in writing!

If you don't understand anything the contractor is talking about, ASK! Don't just let it blow over be cause you figure it's not important. Find out what it means to you and your project. Many people have related that though they didn't understand what the contractor was talking about at the time, it later became an issue.

Rich or poor, educated or not, consumers continue to trust and believe that a licensed, business individual will abide by State and local laws, and perform according to what is agreed to in a signed contract. And why not? The majority of business dealings we engage in with various entities are typically honored.

If they're not, or problems surface, we usually have the opportunity to take it up with someone within the company who can mediate the situation and make it right. Not so when dealing with contractors; they are the end of the line. God help you if he/she turns out to be an unethical, smarmy snake! Hiring a contractor has literally become a crap shoot and you the consumer stand to loose ten to hundreds of thousands of your hard-earned dollars, not to mention your sanity. Consider the following cautionary tales before you begin.

Hi there, I just wanted to share my story with you. Everyone dreams of having their own home one day. It's the American Dream! What a nightmare this has been for my family! We thought we were hiring a contractor in June 2003. I looked him up on the BBB web site and found nothing on him. His Company name at the time was Quality Paint Drywall and Construction. I had only met this man once before because his brother is best friends with my son. His mother is also my best friend or at least she was before this happened. I'm not sure about her feelings now. We found a house in Diana, Texas and fell in love with it. The problem was the house was too small so we hired this man to add new additions, close in the carport, and redo other work that needed to be done. He came and looked at the place and told us that he could do whatever that we wanted. The first bid was for about 26,000.00. We thought that was a great price for what we had discussed with him.

When I took the bid to the bank they would not accept it because it was not detailed enough. (That should have been my first clue). However, I had never done anything like this before. I had to call him back and tell him that the bank wanted details. He said no problem and about 2 to 3 days later he dropped the bid in our mailbox because we were not at home. Much to our surprise the bid had gone up to 46,000.00! We called him immediately. He told us that with everything that we wanted in our new home that was going to have to be the price.  He said that everything would be new in our home and it would be "turn key". ( at the time we had no idea what that meant.) He told us not to worry because when he got through with our home it would be the best home that we could hope for and that we would be really proud of it. To make a very long, long story short it was definitely not what we had asked for or wanted.

We hired an attorney and the contractor was fired. At the time we had NO sinks, commodes, (we had one but one of the workers broke it) vanities, cabinets, flooring, walls were never mudd and taped, air-conditioning was not big enough for the house when the extra rooms were added (which he knew about in the beginning) no paint, (except for what I did and he told me that I had to use paint thinner with the paint so it would go on smoothly), no sink in the kitchen and the plumbing was never done, the roof leaks, not sufficient turbans on the house. We had to replace sheet rock because of mold because the house was not sealed so when it rains the water just pours in because the dirt work was never done. Every bug you can possibly think of comes in, ants, scorpions, spiders, crickets, and even a snake! Most of the electrical work was not finished and the wires were just dangling in the box. One of his workers always showed up on drugs and the smell of alcohol. The list just goes on and on! I know that this nightmare will never end. I even thought about entering that TV show where they makeover your home.( With my bad luck I would never get picked!)  We filed criminal charges against this man and he got indicted by a Grand Jury. Since it's his first offense he MIGHT get probation and have to pay something back in restitution. We do not know this yet because we are still waiting for them to set a trial date. He has had numerous pre-trials already. 

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that he forged my name in order to get the money from the account from the bank. We have also filed a civil suit against him but that is not looking too good because this man does not have anything but a house that is homestead and he is currently selling his house. Which by the way is only 4 miles from where we live! We have been living in this house since the day we bought it and it has really disrupted our lives. Can someone tell me how this man even sleeps at night? Surely he never looks in the mirror. We are not the only ones that he has done this too. We are however the only ones that he has screwed this bad and now we are fighting back. He took every dime that we had and now we are left with his mess to redo. We live paycheck to paycheck with only one income so when we can we buy the needed materials we are trying to do it ourselves. We really haven't gotten a lot done since this all happened and I guess we will be spending the next 30 years trying to get it finished. Thank you for letting me share my story with you. It really helps to just vent sometimes. I am afraid to trust people now and that makes me so mad because I know that there that there are good people in this world. If I knew then what I know now I would not be in this mess. I guess you live and learn.   Desperate in Diana

To Whom It May Concern:
You can add another "Contractor from Hell" to your growing list!
I contracted with Tri-City Marble, Newark, Ca to do a bathroom remodel where they were to install new jacuzzi tub, and 3 marble walls. What was supposed to be a 2 week job, it turned out to be 3 months of hell. They didn't have a permit before they started the work, and they tracked their dirt in on my new carpets; and left a hot glue gun dripping on my new marble sink; tore my towel bar down,and were very un-professional. I wouldn't recommend them to satan himself. I went through so much with this company

To be brief, I contacted BBB and filed a complaint, then contacted Atty. General's Office, also State contractor's Board and filed a complaint which got them 9 serious violations. After numerous complaints, I was taken to court by this company because they did not install anti-scald guard on tub, and they wanted me to pay for the permit.(The nerve of those people). Very shoddy work. I lost case in court and was to pay the company $350 which I was told I could pay in installments. Then she reneged on agreement and told me to pay in full or she would put a lien on my house (which she did). I took them to court and sued for permit (which I won). To make a long story shorter; I paid the amount I lost in court, for the anti-scald quard not getting installed (but I had to pay for), and I couldn't sell my house until lien got paid, then to top it off, the paid judgment remains on my credit files for 7 years.
Please warn every consumer about this company and their rude,un-professional mannerisms.
I got taken good for over $6000 for a simple remodel of a new tub and 3 marble walls.
Sincerely
Melissa

Hello,
I saw your web site and wanted to respond.  My wife and I just completed building a house for the 1st time.  The experience was awful to say the least.  We are highly educated, fair people and were taken advantage of by two separate contractors.  One of these contractors filed a fraudulent lien against our property for an amount that was in excess of 100k over our contract amount with him.  He also left our neighbors hung out to dry for over 100k (He sold them a wrought iron front door that was 10” too tall for their opening and has since flown the coupe).  No family should experience what this guy has put all of us through.  Fortunately, we were able to close on our loan by convincing the Title Company that this was a fraudulent lien.  I am sending you this information to help protect any other families who may be building or remodeling.

Hello, my name is Adam, and I have been taken advantage of and financially raped!
My story goes like this, sorry its long and complicated.
I had worked on roofs for summer jobs before, and after the house had four dripping leaks I finally decided to have a look on my roof. To my dismay I had discovered one of the worst roofing jobs done ever! Not one single piece of metal flashing, bad valleys where water was running into the cut sides, and a crazy chimney job! So I decided that since I knew tons of out work guys from previous roofing jobs, finding all the help I need would be easy, and it is only a 20 square house, although steep up top! My help never showed up, and left me with two torn off sides! I had discovered some rotten roof decking too, and eventually found a real huckster to help! He talked the big talk and said he had roofed for 30 yrs! He even lied and said he was some sort of licence big shot, coming away from big money jobs just to help me, and I was desperate! Turns out he does good at first, but didn't know how to put on asphalt shingles! He had me do the grunt work since I am younger, but I realized the mess of a job he did, no step flashing on my dormer, even though I bent about 50 pieces of it and gave them to him! The chimney was a goopy mess of incorrectly done flashing and liquid nails panel adhesive. We had an argument, but I paid him for the work he had done just to get rid of him. I later find out (he was recommended to me through my home insurance agent) that he is nothing but a alcoholic handyman, who once helped on a roof! Oh my, so I was able to negotiate materials compensation from my agent, who footed the bill. I worked hard roofing myself, but by now it was Halloween, and I was worried about getting things done in case it snowed! I had been trying to call a contractor, who is a cousin of mine to just send a little help, and he finally called back. He only agreed to taking over the rest of the second story roof job, he wouldn't entertain any thoughts of sweat equity on my part, even though I had been working on it very much. So here was $3000 out the door, but it was help, and the roof pitch was 8/12 and lonely up there...But later, the contractor cousin of mine talks my grandmother into to doing some additional work, finishing the porch roofs, which were only one story high, and a very walkable, 5/12 pitch(less than 6 squares).

He told me that he worked a deal with my grandmother, a really good one, and we were going to finish it up. I did all of the cleanup work for no credit or equity! Turns out there is a lot of rotten sheathing that needed to be replaced. I have a Arts & Crafts bungalow home with an overhanging, soffit-less roof. There were originally 1x3 tongue in groove boards on the overhanging, making an attractive overhang, but were replaced with big pieces of plywood, full of imperfections, giving it a real tasteless look. Returning and seeing this shabby work( I am a decent enough carpenter to know that replacing some tongue and groove boards would have been a more correct choice) I was upset. I decided we'll live with it, its done, and all of that. The following monday, he even asked if I wanted to work for him, and I agreed, because I didn't have a job, and thought my cousin would treat me good(i.e. no new guy does all the dirty working hazing to go through...again!) Turns out I end up digging out a 1000ft.+ long 3ft. deep 6in, wide ditch to accommodate a power line, after he dug it with a machine and it had filled up with mud after a rain! I do it. We get the power line in. He makes me cover it over with a foot of dirt, in the rain. Come back Fri. Nov 17 2006, and see that the whole foot of dirt had washed down and refilled the lower part of ditch, also leaving the power line uncovered! It was cold and raining, He said redo it all, I told him to go to hell and walked 3 miles to call a ride! This sunday I talked to my grandmother and had her show me the final bill. It said $5776! How did it go from doing about 10 remaining squares on the second story for $3000 to doing the remaining one story porch roofs for an additional $2776! That had essentially doubled the cost. He knew I was planning on doing the porch roofs myself, and that I was in a big financial mess already, why would my cousin sucker me into thinking I was getting a deal? I could have bought the shingles, plywood, and even bought Grade A cedar tongue-and-groove or ship lapped roof decking to give it a neat and finished appearance, in addition to paying a city pick up fee for $40 for the ton of shingles and saved $2000 at least on labor! I also unfortunately found out that my grandmother had already paid him in full. I honestly and foolishly thought he was going to do those porch roofs to a few hundred, maybe a thousand at the very very most! Wow, how does two measly less than 6 square of porch roofs double the cost? How!? I paid about $400 per square to this jerk and he has the slave driving arrogance to bring me out to his "white flight" dream home site to dig in the cold wet clay mud for $7 an hour. I am beyond mad, about this, I am hurt, truly, truly hurt. I had complained to him earlier today about his, but he said "shut up or I'll shove your little head up your ass" and to "watch my back"... Well I am not the type of person to back down, and not after being screwed, taken advantage of, and manipulated, I dared him to do something! He was welcome to try. I called him back and exclaimed that he extorted my grandmother, who gives money to anybody who asks it from her, and he replied, that I was too "sorry" and "stupid" to handle those porch roofs, a job I could have done in a few days by myself! I could have saved $2000 at least! That's better equity than digging in the mud for $7! He is much more closely related to my grandmother so that's why he jumped at the idea to get her involved. My cousin profited off of me an amount of no less than $2500 for doing no work at all, and then expects me to re earn it by digging in cold wet mud, 1000ft no less. I have been royally screwed. I went to his residence on this enchanted snow covered morning to see if he would make good on his threats( I was in the pits of anger) and shouted outside his home, but he wouldn't come out! (mr. arrogance can't back up his claims!) I don't know where this will go from here, and I still need to collect a paycheck too! I want justice to be done, And I dare this bastard to try to hit me! I have been nothing but kind to him, and I am the one who had to lose. What would I do? What can I do? If you have read this letter, I thank you, whoever you are!

Adam

Hello! I wish I would have seen your site BEFORE we have any contractor involvement,, it may have helped us avoid what is now a bad memory and possibly, future headaches.

In April of 2006 we accepted a proposal from a partnership contractor to move our trailer, pour a foundation and build a garage.

Based on the complaint that I am about to summarize, I asked the Nevada State Contractors Board to investigate our contractor for attempted fraud and unethical conduct. They attempted to fraudulently acquire $10,500.00 from my construction loan because they were angry I wouldn’t pre-pay them on my garage. Because of this, the contractors were fired from my job for breach of contract. The end result? I am out an additional $2,998.15 to finalize settlement with these con artists, finish my garage and pay attorneys fees.

Garage construction began in October and progress was uneventful until November 2006. Between Nov. 5 and Nov. 9, I received numerous phone calls from the contractors all wanting final payment on the garage. To each of them I said “I don’t think it would be wise to pay until the job is complete” (garage doors and electrical were not done). The contractor called me on Nov. 9 and explained that he had other jobs that he needed to purchase materials for and that he has a $12,100.00 past-due balance at his materials supplier. Then he says that he needs the money from my job to pay his supplier and I should trust that my garage would get done “because we are all friends”. I told him that all he needed to do was finish the garage and he would get paid just as he had in all previous phases of my construction project. He said if you’re not going to pay me now, then I have no reason to finish the job and I will be putting a lien on your property. In addition he said that I could also expect his supplier to lien my property.

Later that day I got a phone call from the Manager of Nevada Bank and Trust. She told me that the contractor came into her office very hostile, demanding payment on my garage or they were going to sue the bank. She also wanted to warn me that the contractor gave her a bill for work that they didn’t do.

When Melissa advised me of the fraudulent invoice, I thought there must be some mistake so I immediately called the contractor to ask him about it. He said he didn’t know what I was talking about and again, he threatened to put a lien on my property if I didn’t arrange final payment to him.

Because of the fraudulent invoice, I hired an attorney to fire the contractor from my job and mediate final payment. During mediation and without provocation, Gage nervously explains that the $10,500 invoice was merely an attempt to get a “partial payment” on the garage (previously, he claimed he had no knowledge of the invoice). Then suddenly Gage demands that I be required to relinquish all my rights to hold him responsible for any further issues relative to the garage as part of the final settlement. My attorney responded with “absolutely not”. Do you suppose he made this demand because he predicted that I would be notifying the Contractor’s Board?

Another thing that we learned is ...even though this contractor tried to fraudulently acquire $10,500 from our construction loan...NO ONE is interested (not even our local district attorney) because the contractor didn't actually "pocket" the money. THIS IS WRONG!!!

Now that the Lien situation has been arbitrated, settled and lifted, we filed our complaint with the contractors board and with Manufactured Housing and you will never believe what happened next! THE CONTRACTOR IS SUING US FOR LIBEL. I called the contractors board and asked if the contractor can do this ...their response is ...yes, it is everyone's civil right to sue over anything ...LET ME REPEAT MYSELF...THIS IS SOOOO WRONG!!! The contractor successfully got away with not completing our project, getting paid MORE money than he was entitled, submitting a fraudulent invoice, filing a frivolous lien on our property and WE ARE GETTING SUED. WHERE IS THE JUSTICE???

Hello,
Before I share my hellish story, I have a question. The "contractor" may be unlicensed, and a repeat offender (per attorney general in Washington state), but I cannot find anyone to help in NY, any suggestions?

We remodeled our kitchen in our new home (c. 1916) from scratch. We did the demolition ourselves with from directions from our contractor (Eric Young) here in Rochester NY. At first, he was only making suggestions, then he wanted to help when we got stuck on how to do some wall removal, then "help" became his job. Then he started charging us, at first- not much. The charges were just for materials, and then he broke an expensive light fixture (which he said his insurance would pay for, but he persuaded my wife to just buy an new one, and he would charge us less. Doesn't that sound like he did not ever have insurance?) We took out walls, flooring, 2 windows...and all with an 18 month old in our new home. We had no functional kitchen of any sort from December 17th through March 31st. This meant that siding was taken down, windows were boarded up, and walls were stripped to the studs in the middle of upstate NY winter. No sink, no oven. After 2.5 months we finally had drywall, and could begin counters and plumbing. This is when the problems began. Eric became less available, and was not too quick to return calls. We eventually got a hold of him to install cabinets. He would come over, and work like crazy, seemingly doing all of the work at once. Overnight he re-routed the gas line, installed plumbing, re-routed the drains and heating vents, cut counters, and put in a sink. Then he disappeared. We were left with a window put in crooked, siding and insulation torn off of 2 windows, a floor that had tiles coming up, no shelving, no finish work, and no money to complete the job. Our house looked like it had been hit with a bomb on the outside, and had new cabinets in the kitchen, but a quickly eroding floor, and stacks of wood that were supposed to be shelves and finish. I ended up taking out a loan to have another contractor finish the job 6 months later. What work I could do I did. And then the problems came. All of the grout on the floor cracked out, tiles started coming out by the handful, and our sink started to back up. We called a plumber who pointed out that the main drain (A VERY expensive fix) was illegally hooked up to the sewer, and also pointed out that a gas line was re-routed through a heating vent without insulation (also illegal, and very dangerous). Now what?
Alan

We have had an awful experience with a home we bought that was bought by a property flipper who made cosmetic repairs and then sold it to us. SInce he rented it 2 years he claims he did not know many problems- even though he created or covered a number of them. We are working on suing him and since have had bad experiences with a contractor making necessary repairs and also acting as expert witness. GIven the numerous problems with dishonesty in the construction industry, I feel there should be laws that make property flippers liable for their repairs that cover problems- they should be very heavy fines that would convince them not to do this. Particularly when they pull owner-builder permits for the work and do some work without permits and say it was all permitted. Also, all the estimates I was given for repair work had details that I do not understand regarding the work and the final total- no itemization of costs. THen when things are changed, the item removed ALWAYS ends up being cheaper than what is replacing it, hence that is why I believe they do not itemize and that is how the final total is less than the estimate. I would love to find a way to help this change for consumers- any ideas on how to do and where to look? Linda

Dear Contractorsfromhell.com   Can you please help me with a contractor situation?   I have spent about $100,000 on renovating the home I recently purchased in New Y9rk City. My problem now is with the final work of finishing the basement.  In the contract, signed in April, the work was to be done in about 6 weeks, for a cost of $41,890.00.  There was a change order, and the price went up to $44,200.00.   I paid all the payments as per the signed contract, beginning with an initial deposit of 15% ($6,283.50).  The final payment was written as $6,283.50, to be paid at job completion.  The contractors did not finish in six weeks.  The work dragged on all summer long, with many broken appointments.  They brought over strange men we didn't really trust to work alone in our house, and they gave our key to one man without my knowledge.  They left garbage in our backyard all summer long.  Having strange people over made us uncomfortable, and at one point, our phone wires were disconnected by someone, our ADT alarm system was dismantled, and then someone tried to break in thru our front door.  I cannot say who is responsible for theses acts.  I did purchase a $2,600.00 camera for security.   Last week, the contractors presented me with a final invoice to pay them $14,000, leaving $700.00 until the final finish.  I gave them a check for $14,000.    Then I realized yesterday that the final amount was written by them as $6,283.50, not $14,700.00.  I realized that in doing their calculations, they had made a mistake in the contract, in calculating the final payment.   I would like to know what are my rights in this matter.   I am planning to stop payment on the check I gave them tomorrow morning, because possibly, I can legally not pay them this amount, due to their error in calculating the final payment.    While it does state in the contract that the total amount is $44,200.00, they made an error in calculating the final payment.  The final paragraph of the contract states that the contractor agrees to hold the owner harmless for claims arising as a consequence of the negligence or omissions of the contractor. Due to the fact that their work in finishing the basement was sloppy, am I right in refusing to abide by their original contract amount? I truly am burned out with the length of time it took for them to approach the end of this work on the basement, as well as their other actions in bringing unknown people in on the job.  I have spent so much of my savings on this renovation project. Please help me understand what  my rights are in this situation. I appreciate your advice and I do like your web site. Thank you very much.-G

Hello.. I have a horror story that I'm still dealing with on my own, and don't know what to do. I live in Delaware, outside of the Wilmington city limits. I was looking for someone to do some odd and end jobs around my house. I have a 4 bedroom cape cod style home. My coworker recommended a man, which I would love to give his name for others to be aware, but not sure if I'm allowed. He ended up doing great work, for a while and he was always offering to do other stuff at a very cheap rate.... new doors, walkways, finish basement etc. I always wanted a bath on my second floor, so we discussed it, and he offered to put one in for an extremely reasonable price. He came over on a weekend with his workers and "dormed" out a room in the middle of the second floor. Over the course of a few weeks he put up few walls, ran some electrical, and then took his time to come back. in the meantime I get a notice on my door from New Castle County Building permits that someone called in an anonymous complaint, (which I ended up finding out it was a neighbor)... that I was having a bath built without a permit. How was I supposed to know this was a requirement.....this is why I hired a contractor? I contacted the contractor and he told me it was no big deal, and for me to go to the county building and plead ignorance and take out a permit, because if he did it, he would get fined, so of course .. I said OK, because I was eager to get this bathroom done already. I took out the permit....he came back a few times, barely did anything...and then disappeared. Problem is... I paid him already... Bottom Line is...He was never licensed, I have this open permit in MY NAME...and all the estimates I'm getting to complete this job are outrageous...one being approx. 9k. I'm so frustrated.