Court tomorrow - what do you think?

[Doreen Peri]

I am going to court tomorrow to get a judgement for the $ the contractor stole from me.

My guess is he probably won't even show up. We'll see.

Anyway, this is a civil case... small claims court.

I can also proceed with a criminal case if I choose to do that. What do you think? Should I have him prosecuted for contract fraud? (research tells me contract fraud is a term which also includes grand larceny)

I'm sooooo angry right now. I have a leak somewhere in this house. My hallway and the carpet at the entrance of 2 bedrooms has flooded. Where is the water coming from? If it's coming from the new bathroom which this same guy renovated, boy am I going to be pissed! The entire wood hallway floor and bedroom carpets will need replacing. If he caused this, too, well geezzz.... I'll have to take him to court again.

Maybe he should be locked up so he can learn a lesson and to keep him off the street so he can't steal from anybody else for a while.

[Artguy]

I hate to hear stories like this...there are so many good contractors, and yet the jerks always seem to boil to the top...sorry for your dilemma...

[Doreen Peri]

You're a contractor, right Kurt? Want to come stay at my house for a couple weeks and do the kitchen job?

[judih]

don't know what to say except hope the 'contractor' shows up and if not, you win, get whatever ruling needs to be ruled and in the end will have a beautiful bathroom wonderful walls dry floors and snugly carpets.

May the 'contractor' see the light, never again shirk his sworn duty and bring you gifts of shiny cupboard handles to make up for his breech of faith.

[Arcadia]

not written contracts for that things here except if you´re working at the same time with an architect or doing a major work.
The proccess is more or less this one: you call someone that someone recommend you, then ask for a more or less aprox presupuesto on the phone, then they came, do the job and get the money from you (always more than the phone estimation) without bills. If the work is shit, you depend in the good will of them to fix the still unfixed or re-do things. The possibility that you don´t pay them is minimun... they usually have contundent objects and they are inside your home... and they know your adress and telephone...!

good luck, doreen!

[Artguy]

Love to help...but my job here keeps me pretty busy...and my commitments in NYC got me spinnin...

[YABYUM]

i could fix it.....

[izeveryboyin]

D, I hurt for you... so does the baby. She has her fists balled up very threateningly, so if court dont do the job, Myla will. I'm thinking if this guy thinks its ok to take you for all you're worth, it's only fair to return the favor. As far as you can stand to take this... make sure the bastard learns his fucking lesson. And if all else fails... shoot him.

--k

[Doreen Peri]

judih - well i got a judgement against him for the $ but that doesn't get me the money. I donno how "in the end" will happen. The bathroom's already beautiful. That's how he conned me into the large down payment for the kitchen. It's the kitchen that's torn up. I got a plumber here and the flooding is fixed. But the carpet is ruined as is the hall wood floor. Of course, my thief didn't do that. It was an AC condensation problem.

Arcadia - Nobody around here does any work without a down payment, unfortunately. If I could get the work done and pay AFTER it's done, I wouldn't have had the money stolen. I'm not sure I'm following you. I'm trying.

Kurt - yeah I figured you were busy. Cool about your NYC gigs!

Yab - i thought you had a good job and were committed to it. Would they let you away for a few weeks and you'd still have your job when you went back? I doubt it but thanks and if it could work, call me and we'll talk about it. It entails electrical work, plumbing work and other renovation work.

Izzy - Let's sick Myla on him! Good plan! If she's inherited your feistiness (did I spell that right?) well he's got it comin'!

_____

Thanks all! None of you answered about whether you thought I should proceed with a criminal case but I decided to do that. Maybe he needs to sit in prison. At least it would get him off the street for a while so he can't do this to anybody else. That won't get my money back either but maybe will teach him that he just can't go around stealing from people without having to pay the price for it.

[judih]

So, dor, what good is a 'judgement' against him. Is it just a warning for anyone who would look him up? Did he show up?
Pursuing this as a criminal case, will you be entitled to a cash award? Will this help your kitchen?

oh, kitchen. How beautiful you will be one day. (inserting visualization)

thanks for reporting back. This small village is with you.

[Doreen Peri]

judih - A judgement for the $ shows up on his financial record. This means if he ever tries to buy a car, buy a house, etc., they won't let him do it until he satisfies the judgement, meaning pays me back. There are means to try to collect on a judgement but usually there's nothing that can be done unless the person owns property (a car, a truck, a house, etc which the court can order taking a part of or selling at auction or something) or a steady job (where the person's wages can be garnished). This person has none of these things (I don't think), so I doubt I have any recourse. Even if he he tries to buy a house or car or something and they want the judgement to be satisfied first, unless he has the money to pay me, it won't do me any good. It will only keep him from getting the credit he's looking for. All that said, when I was a property manager renting apartments, when I found a judgement on a prospective renter's credit history, there were times they did pay it off and proved it enabling them to rent the apartment.

Pursuing it as a criminal case won't get me my money back either. It will only get him charged with a crime since he stole money. It won't help my kitchen in any way.

Believe me, I didn't want to pursue any type of legal action but was forced to. I offered to write a new contract or extend the old one giving him opportunity after opportunity for a long time to come and start doing the work. He never showed up.

I envision my kitchen beautiful one day too. Thank you! At this point, though, there are three sets of large wires hanging down from my ceiling and I get scared every time I turn the garbage disposal on because the switch is attached to one set of the wires. Maybe I'll get electricuted and getting the kitchen fixed will become moot.

lol

It takes a village, for sure. I need the support you all are giving me. This has been taxing and there will be more to come. I'll try not to dump on you guys too much.

[stilltrucking]

Dump away sister
and be careful
with that switch

I remember feral/jason saying once that "there is no situation that a cop can not make worse" mangled quote from geezer memory
Only reason I can think of calling for the cops is if it would give you some leverage to get your money back. you know offer him a settlement, get what you can get or you will sic the cops on him for what that is worth.

[Doreen Peri]

I go back and forth with it, 'truckin. I hear you.

Thing is, how many times has this person done this to other people? We did a background check. He has other grand larcenies and bad check charges and has done time before. The time he did was about 10 years ago. I guess he didn't learn his lesson yet.

How do you stop someone from stealing from people? Isn't that what the judicial system is for?

I don't know what to do. One day I decide to move forward with it. The next I change my mind.

Some people have said to me not to think twice. Of course, you take action to get him charged with a crime. After all, he committed a crime.

[Doreen Peri]

The other thing I think about is the children.

If someone is allowed to get away with stealing from people, what does that teach his children? That it's OK to steal from people? On the other hand, if the father is locked up in jail, what does that do to the children?

sighh.... I'm struggling with this.

[izeveryboyin]

Well d, I see your point, but honestly, you're not doing anything to his kids, HE HAS ALREADY DONE IT! If he had concern for his kids then he would've taken more care as to how he put the bread on the table as opposed to assuming he'd always catch a break b/c he was able, as is the majority of the younger half of the population, to procreate. I think that if he makes it necessary, you should take it to criminal court. B/c he obviously needs to learn the hard way in order for the lesson to sink in. He did his time 10 years ago and the lesson stuck for that long. So maybe prison does work for him, in short intervals. No it won't get your money back, but it will definitely teach him a valuable lesson he probably won't forget, and it will save some poor unsuspecting person from suffering the same fate. Whatever you do, best of luck to you D. This situation REALLY sucks, and my heaqrt goes out. It's shit like this that makes me glad to be a renter. Sorry, bet that didn't help much. LOL.

--k

p.s did you find the source of the leak yet??!