$50 grand in 48 hours????? Take your house???? Sounds very fishy. What was the original budget? Have not done a renovation of that size so can't help there. BUT I would not pay anything until you have an itemized invoice

You need to see an attorney.

Some of the answer to this question is it depends. We don't know the scope of the project and so we don't know where a $50k overage lands you. Are you still under budget or are you now $50k over budget? Is that $50k 20% over budget or 2% over budget?

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Generally speaking, a contractor has an affirmative duty to accurately communicate costs to you. He can't tell you everything is on budget then hit you with a 20% overage.

He also can't use a line that says we will settle at the end. If he says you are under, even if he qualifies that, he has an affirmative duty to assure you are under. Part of his job is to control and communicate costs, so when asked he must provide accurate information whether or not he likes it.

As for taking your house, the procedures for mechanics liens are typically not so one sided. Typically, they are great when the amounts are not in dispute but are usually discouraged as a tool for settling disputes. Often a contractor attempting to use a lien to force payment of disputed amounts will end up barred from any collection action. However, your state may have different rules, thus you need to see an attorney.

Thank you! The 50K would put us about 30% above our max budget.

The super fishy part is the "extra work" he did is now hidden. Were you on site often during the renovations? Did you have a contract and payment schedule?

I agree with consulting a construction attorney; I would not do anything now without legal advice. What bry911 said about mechanics liens; it's an easy google check of the statutes in your state to give you a better idea of the legality of the contractor's bluff.

He can't "take your house." Not without a long and expensive fight.

Seek a reputable lawyer ASAP!!! MAKE SURE THAT HE HAS EXPERIENCE IN THIS SORT OF PROBLEM!!!! Please don"t settle for less!

I wouldn't invest in a lawyer until I was picking a lawsuit out of my...underpants. This guy is a shakedown artist. If he sues, you know he's serious and thinks he's got a case. You've got a hell of a lot more time than 48 hours to respond to a lawsuit. I wouldn't even take his calls.

To some extent, it depends on the kind of contract you entered in to.

I believe your remedy will be different depending on whether it Is it a fixed-price contract or a cost-plus contract. In either case, I would expect a professional remodeler to inform you of unexpected or unanticipated conditions and prepare you for a change order to remedy those same conditions as soon as they were evident--not wait until the end of the project.

I would call a lawyer.

Here is a rather long opinion on your situation...

There are really two issues with the contractor here, (1) the legitimacy of the costs and (2) his deception about those costs.

Let's look at the second first... regardless of the type of contract you have, a contractor has a duty to be reasonably correct when he answers questions about costs/price. It is difficult to disclaim that duty away, and is rarely allowed. A contractor can not put off giving you bad news until the last minute, especially when asked. If you have those communications in email or written form then you are in good shape, if not then get him to acknowledge those communications in an email. (Simply say something like "before I consider paying I would like to know why you consistently said we were under budget." Odds are he will defend what he said).

As to the first part... Legitimacy of the costs is a different can of worms. We really need to know the terms of contract and a few other things first. Largely, there is a heightened duty under a cost plus contract versus a fixed price contract, but there are commonly cost plus elements to fixed price contracts. So I would need to know more and even then regardless of my thoughts on that, my advice would be see an attorney because of the previously stated issue.

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Having said all that, remember that your goal is to achieve an outcome you can live with, for a favorable cost (time, stress, and money). Being right and getting the contractor to accept your right are different things. Don't spend $30,000 in legal fees to get a $25,000 reduction in price. Cash out is cash out, whether your attorney gets it or your contractor gets it, you don't have it any more.

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I agree with Joseph that the contractor is shaking you down. A mechanic's lien is pretty easy to start, but much more difficult to perfect. Lots of contractors will start the process knowing the letter you receive will scare you into acquiescence, when they know they will not be able to perfect that lien. The mechanic's lien process typically favors contractors with ease and speed, but also has very stringent requirements. I would not be overly concerned with his threat or even early action.

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I would see an attorney immediately. While I agree with Joseph about the contractor, a $50,000 bill out of nowhere in these times might signify a liquidity problem. While a mechanic's lien might prove difficult for your contractor, suppliers and subs may not have that same difficulty. I would want an attorney to ensure that the subs and suppliers on your home have been paid. I also think much of the blustering and early action will be removed when you respond with, "I have retained an attorney who specializes in construction law and have been advised..."

I would also contact the town re permits as this work would likely require permit and inspections - also check your states contractors license database to make sure he is in good standing.

Im an industrial project engineer, whenever one of our contractors want extras, I request time sheets and itemized material costing. The difference is that Im part of a billion dollar company and it is my full time job is to know what the contractors are doing.

If you know what dates you spoke to the contractor about budget, send a casual email saying when we spoke on x, y, z about the budget everything was fine and there was no mention of overages when I handed over final payment on z. Similar to what another poster suggested.

in the meantime, find a lawyer and pay for a 1-2 hour consultation. Hopefully you won’t need more time than that but it will be good for piece of mind and tips on what not to say/do.

These issues on here are always a bit he said she said. In all honestly I would need to see the contract, see copies of e mails sent and answered regarding changes . Make sure you have all your ducks in a row before talking to an attorney or you will be paying legal fees to get those ducks in a row. Usually when I pay the last bill or get paid the final bill it is maked Paid in Full and initialed by the 2 parties involved.

You let the contractor continue working when you asked him for a price update, and he said he would give it to you at the end of the job, then you agreed . Just saying.

Attorney consult needed ASAP - make a hard copy of every scrap of paperwork including any and all emails. Any reputable contractor puts the "change orders" in writing (showing cost) and requires you to sign them before doing the work.

I'm not an attorney and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I do know a little about construction contracts. It's important to determine whether the OP is operating under a fixed-price or cost-plus contract. From the discussion above, I infer it's the latter.

With a fixed-price contract, the scope of work should be pre-defined; ideally by detailed plans and specifications. Changes to that scope or the agreed, fixed price should follow whatever procedure is described in the contract. There should also be language which describes how unforeseen or hidden conditions are dealt with.

By contrast, with a typical cost-plus contract, the homeowner pays whatever actual costs are incurred plus a contractor's fee. The scope may or may not be well defined. Unforeseen or hidden conditions would typically be dealt with in the same manner as other aspects of the project: at cost incurred plus the contractor's fee. It's incumbent on the contractor to provide evidence of the costs incurred, usually copies of invoices for materials and subcontracted labor and timesheets for any direct labor.

It's important to determine whether the OP is operating under a fixed-price or cost-plus contract.

There are certain obligations that exist in all contracts, the validity of the charges is an issue, but it is not the only issue. You can't act in bad faith when you are a party to a contract. There is a lot of precedent that contractors lying about costs is contrary to the good faith requirement, as this happens a lot. Contractors don't like giving bad news anymore than anyone else does, so quite regularly they obfuscate or lie.

This is why I would see an attorney in your state.

Following.

So frustrating when things like this happen! Without knowing more information, that would be hard to glean just online, I would seek support on this.

We had some cost overages on our build. One was not brought to our attention in advance and we pushed back a ton. It wasn't due to anything we did. It was due to lumber increasing in price. It is fine that that happened but we should have been notified of a major budget shift and were not. Our builder ate half of the increase.

I'm not an attorney but I've been involved in civil suits. In addition to any emails, which you may or may not have, start right now trying to date, remember and transcribe the discussions you say you had with the contractor. From now on, immediately after speaking to the contractor, document what was said (don't do this in front of the contractor). By now we all know what "contemporaneous notes" means.

Long before anyone heard of James Comey, I was advised by my attorney to document, document, document all contact with a certain person.

I will say, however, that your contractor is bluffing. As others have said, there are ways you can call him on that and most likely will never hear from him again.

The contract was a cost plus contract. I should probably follow that up by saying that we actually never signed the original agreement & budget sent over. Why? It was very generic; for example, it would have Bathroom Materials $XXXX but we wanted more detail about what was meant by ‘materials‘. That detail was never provided so we never signed the contract.

You are probably wondering why we even let them continue construction. Well, this company has flipped several houses in our area and we have liked all of the work they have done. However, all those houses were unoccupied when they flipped them which we didn’t consider or even think about at the time. Now, looking back, that should’ve been something we looked into since it seems like they didn’t have experience dealing with homeowners.

Some of you also asked about the added cost, and this is where it gets tricky. Because there were something’s that were told to us verbally. Like, we were told our whole home interior would be painted, but when the 50K bill came in the contractor said that the budget included three rooms, not the whole house, so all the other rooms were extra. However, this was not told to us when the actual painting was taking place, we just came in one day and the whole interior of our home was painted. Also, the ‘materials’ I mentioned, that we asked for a clear breakout of, apparently did not include countertops (for bathroom or kitchen) or shower glass eventhough we provided him a sample of the stone countertops we wanted prior to any quote so he could provide an accurate number. We were not told when the countertops & glass were ordered that it would be extra. In fact, we weren’t even told the were ordered. We just got a message saying they were in and being installed.

I just want to reiterate that this was our issue with the whole situation. Instead of notifying us about any incremental cost or changes to the budget, they just installed and updated without consulting us. I mean the contractor made the budget so he had to know when he ordered the countertops, extra paint, glass, etc. that they weren’t included in his original budget, right? So you’d think when he ordered them he would notify us and say that they weren‘t included (for some reason) in the budget and that they would be an additional cost of $XXXX, but that isn’t what happened. They just ordered and installed while assuring us that it was all within budget.

Update on the situation: We have consulted a lawyer. Their advice was to print documents & emails where we have asked for updates on cost and discussed any add-ons that were listed in the 50K bill. Which we did and told the contractor to do the same. We could only find 10K of the 50K that we had actually discussed via email or text. The 10K we approved were for added built ins and for a update to our upstairs air conditioning unit. 10K is what both parties agreed to since that was all the contractor could legally tie us to.

Glad an attorney was able to help. In future; a thorough review of any contract, all conversations being recorded (there is no such thing as a dumb question), and every "change order" includes the cost and scope of work.

He sounds like an unprofessional jerk. I have always had contractors alert me to complications and give me my options and cost before making any changes. There are a lot of jerk contractors that will try to rip you off beforehand and tell you what you want to hear though, but alerting a customer to complications and additional costs during the process is mandatory. I’m glad that you have consulted a lawyer and am sorry that you have been confronted with this situation.

following

@Jenn Hoffman Ambler,PA (7A), "[Contractor] sounds like an unprofessional jerk".

Client also sounds like a doofus for proceeding without a proper contract. They deserve each other.

"following"

Why would we collectively care? lol

@Stax I believe it is a strategy to then received notifications on the post when someone says "following".

Glad it worked out. Agree that a change order is really critical for any unforeseen expenses -- which do happen with many renos -- so that both of you are on the same page. Often "this is harder than I expected" means 20k to him and "quit whining" to me, so money changes need to be very clear for everybody's records (or the chance to rethink!)...

Stax, there may be a better way to pose the question. I'm simply following the thread because I have an interest in the subject matter. I have no need to comment because I have nothing of value to contribute to the conversation.

no hassle. They should have a button at the top allowing you to Subscribe... other forums do.

Thank you. Sometimes folks follow just to watch the progress of a thread. I agree that there should be an easier way to do it. Depending on how glitchy Houzz is, sometimes even that is not enough to get notifications of new comments.

kat, you can also just type a period:

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...

as long as you type something in the comment box.

I think you may also be able to simply like the original post and/or save it with the heart.

I've tried the save before but I don't think it gives you notifications, just saves it as a favorite. I'll just stick to ..., as I have in other threads, although I've seen that garner snippy comments as well.

Generally there is no way to please everyone on the internet...ask me how I know ;)

You can post "following" and save it.

Then Delete the post and then go to the end of the thread and restore notifications, if needed.

I think. lol