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ACGI Blog: What recourse does a homeowner have if a contractor damages their property or home

What recourse does a homeowner have if a contractor damages their property or home?

In the state of Oregon you have several options: • You can go after the contractor’s bond.

• Go to the CCB and file a complaint against the contractor. For more information visit: http://www.oregon.gov/CCB/dispute_resolution.shtml

• File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. For more information visit: https://odr.bbb.org/odrweb/public/getstarted.aspx

• File a small claims court action in your county of residence. In Washington County this is the standard procedure for each type of case and the minimum amounts are 1500.00 or Less and 1500.00 and above to 49,999 has a separate set of criteria in which a homeowner has to adhere to when filing a claim.

I found the below information at this address: http://courts.oregon.gov/Washington/docs/SUMMARY_LOCAL_FEE_SCHEDULE_EFFECTIVE_OCTOBER_2009.pdf

SMALL CLAIMS (See also TRANSFER) When Plaintiff's claim is $1,500 or less: Defendant, admitting claim (to reimburse plaintiff's fees) ($46.50) Defendant, denying claim and demanding hearing $74.50 Defendant, denying claim and claiming right to jury trial (includes $150 trial fee) $287 Plaintiff, filing claim $46.50 Plaintiff, filing formal complaint after defendant demands jury trial $91.50 When Plaintiff's claim is more than $1,500: Defendant, admitting claim (to reimburse plaintiff's fees) ($86.50) Defendant, denying claim and demanding hearing $143.50 Defendant, denying claim and claiming right to jury trial (includes $150 trial fee) $287 Plaintiff, filing claim $86.50 Plaintiff, filing formal complaint after defendant demands jury trial $51.50

Here is an example from Washington country, Oregon: http://courts.oregon.gov/Washington/General_Information/Going_to_Court/faq.page?#SC1

• You can administer your own cyber justice by filing a complaint about the company on the following websites: http://www.ripoffreport.com/ www.complaints.com/

• You can go after the contractor’s liability insurance.

• If you really want to get creative there is an application that will automatically generate a complaint form for you to file.

“The program has a set of sentences that it generates, which are then filled in by randomly assigned adjectives, nouns and verbs. It's sort of like those old "Mad-Libs," except a lot faster. The result is a letter that sounds impressively negative. And you get a new one every time!”

http://www.pakin.org/complaint/

At the end of the day, you must decide if your complaint falls under the following criteria before you file it. Did the contractor purposefully damage your property or were you negligent in any way to contribute to the damage? I have noticed that homeowners often do not consider their home a construction site, albeit that is exactly what it is when you hire a contractor to make improvements to your home.

Did you pursue practical communication skills to try to resolve the adverse situation? As A Communication Major in college I have learned that the very essence of the communication process is Shared Meaning. If one person encodes a message a certain way and the receiver decodes the message wrong and misinterprets the encoding what occurs during this process of communication is called a communication disconnect. This happens all the time which is why active listening skills are the key to effective communication with your contractor.

Was the damage an act of God or something completely out of control of the contractor? Sometimes things just happen on a job site that the contractor cannot control. For example, I was doing a door and trim installation job a week or two ago and water flooded in the homeowners garage where the spray booth and drop clothes had been set up. This was completely out of the control of both the homeowner and the contractor. It may have slowed down production a little bit and caused a little bit of water to be tracked into the home but we both realized that we just had to deal with it and not complain about it or blame each other.

Were you rational and calm or angry and upset when you approached the contractor about the damage? The attitude that you bring to the table when approaching your contractor about the damage may greatly influence his or her reaction toward you. Utilize the 3 C’s to your advantage and stay Cool, Calm, & Collected.

Could you honestly look yourself in the mirror each day knowing that you are about to potentially ruin and or tarnish someone’s reputation and if so, what would it feel like if the shoe were on your foot and you were legitimately trying to run a business like the contractor? This question you must answer on your own. This is up to the individual and I cannot sway you either way, I just want to point you in the right direction and give you the other shoe perspective.

Finally, What does your contractual agreement state as far as recourse and remediation for damaged property? When in doubt follow the guidelines set into the contractual agreement. If your contract does not have any clauses concerning damaged property have the contractor add it to the contract so that both you and the contractor have some sort of recourse in case an accident does happen.

As you answer these questions please realize how difficult it is to be a small business in this economy. If the contractor does good work; his reputation will speak for itself and yet if he or she makes a mistake please take the time to bring it to the contractor’s attention so that he or she may have an opportunity to resolve the issue before you move to the complaint stage. In other words try to extend Grace as you have been shown Grace in your own life.

In most cases you will be delighted to know that business owners have their faults too. While they may make a mistake here or there, wisdom will show that they learn from them and are more than happy to oblige to make the homeowner happy by fixing, replacing, or repairing what was damaged. Please give your contractor the benefit of the doubt and allow them an opportunity to prove their character and values to your through action.

Written by ACGI Homes