Sueing contractors for work not done

[entrochan.livejournal.com]

Last July, I gave a contractor a $4500 downpayment to re-do my front porch. He has yet to do the work, and attempts to get my money back have been futile. We went through a few months where he told me he would pay me back in installments (he'd had some money stolen from him by his kid, and being accomodating seemed like the better way to go), but I got a grand total of $200 this way. Then another few weeks of him promising to do the work. Nothing.

So it is time to take him to court. Does anyone know how to go about doing this? It's more than the small claims amount of $2000. It seems a bit straightforward to get a "real" lawyer involved. I've poked around on the somerville web sites and can't seem to find any real information.

Comments

[larksdream]

I'm not even sure it's such a good idea to have this guy do the work at this point. If he's doing a slapdash job just to get you off his back, well... let's say I'd worry when it's something structural like a porch. Best to tell him he's in breach of contract and get the money back, I think.

[entrochan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd feel pretty uncomfortable with him doing the work at this point.