I'm a handyman in idaho. I was recently on a job in Fruitland idaho where the people did not pay me for my services. I bought a door for $700 and installed it in a day into his shop and put in some threshold pieces on some flooring I installed. They owed me $2800 for my labor and materials. I have two contracts saying they would pay me the last 10% owed on the entire project plus the cost of the door and for installing a vent for them. And multiple texts saying they woukd pay soon as I installed the door and the threshold pieces. They pushed the date out about 1 week for me to come out and wanted me to come out on a weekend I did as they wanted. After I completed the job he simply Said if I wanted to be paid then I'd have to take him to court and to get off his property having to leave the door. I just put in and installed. I told him the door was my property and that this was theft. He said I took to long to come out and I took to long to do the project. There was never any completion dates in are contract. They put completion dates on me as I was working that were unreasonable and setting me up for failure. I still met there deadline working sometimes tell 2:00AM. I later said to him I'm not going to be bullied and harrased through out this project expecting more things for free from me. ... Can I file a lien I have two signed contracts and text messages promising payment. I feel I was tricked to install the door and do the work that they had this planned out for me to purchase a $700 commercial door . Not once did they mention my quality of work but just stated I took to long. I feel I was taken advantage of here and bullied put of my work. What can I do? Can I ask for more money then what is owed because of financial problems this us causing for me do to breach of contract and Losses of opportunity. I work through Thumbtack its kinda like Uber but I pay for leads. I'm a Top Pro handyman on there site. I gave 48 good reviews and a 4.8 star rating and was rewarded top pro 2 years in a row. Because of lack of money I don't have money for more leads from Thumbtack until I get paid more money. It's costing me money not being able to work.
Your best bet is to sue the homeowner for breach of contract
in small claims court as the costs of using a lawyer would be cost
prohibitive. You would end up spending exponentially more on attorneys
fees than what you are owed. You would likely be entitled to recover your
attorneys fees but if you can’t afford to pay for leads, you certainly cannot
afford a lawyer. Neither party can use a lawyer in small claims court so
you will not be at a disadvantage. Make sure to submit copies of the
texts/emails from the homeowner agreeing to pay for the work. It sounds
like you have an excellent case with a high likelihood of prevailing.
The maximum amount you can recover in small claims court is
$5,000. You can seek to recover lost profits but those are very difficult
to prove without actual contracts that you couldn’t perform due to the
homeowner’s non-payment.
You could also record a lien against their property to
secure the amounts you are owed but you would have to file a lien foreclosure
suit to recover a judgment ordering that you be paid out of the proceeds of the
sale of the property. I strongly recommend using a lawyer to record the
lien and to prosecute the foreclosure action. There are many technical
requirements to record a valid lien. Any decent construction lawyer will
ensure that all of these requirements are met. It typically costs between
$500 - $700 to have a lawyer draft and record a lien on your behalf. If
you choose to record your own lien make sure to closely review the lien
statutes and follow their requirements to the letter. The lien statutes
are located at Idaho Code §§ 45-501 – 45-525 and are available online.
Best of luck.
Your best bet is to sue the homeowner for breach of contract in small claims court as the costs of using a lawyer would be cost prohibitive. You would end up spending exponentially more on attorneys fees than what you are owed. You would likely be entitled to recover your attorneys fees but if you can’t afford to pay for leads, you certainly cannot afford a lawyer. Neither party can use a lawyer in small claims court so you will not be at a disadvantage. Make sure to submit copies of the texts/emails from the homeowner agreeing to pay for the work. It sounds like you have an excellent case with a high likelihood of prevailing.
The maximum amount you can recover in small claims court is $5,000. You can seek to recover lost profits but those are very difficult to prove without actual contracts that you couldn’t perform due to the homeowner’s non-payment.
You could also record a lien against their property to secure the amounts you are owed but you would have to file a lien foreclosure suit to recover a judgment ordering that you be paid out of the proceeds of the sale of the property. I strongly recommend using a lawyer to record the lien and to prosecute the foreclosure action. There are many technical requirements to record a valid lien. Any decent construction lawyer will ensure that all of these requirements are met. It typically costs between $500 - $700 to have a lawyer draft and record a lien on your behalf. If you choose to record your own lien make sure to closely review the lien statutes and follow their requirements to the letter. The lien statutes are located at Idaho Code §§ 45-501 – 45-525 and are available online.
Best of luck.