5 ms·

Why not sue for breach of contract / design?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
LanceH 6y ago
I imagine it's because he would be largely up against a company and litigators skilled at meeting the letter of the contract if not the spirit. "Winning" would likely see him get a minimum level of corrections done to the house, which could be accomplished for less than the cost of a lawsuit.
LatteLazy 6y ago
You'd spend 20k in legal fees to gets a 5k refund after 3 years of litigation.
- xwdv 6y ago
  It's about principles, not money.
  - LatteLazy 6y ago
    Says the man who can afford to spend 3 years in court losing 15k :)
    - stephencanon 6y ago
      Anyone who takes on building a custom house can easily afford to spend 3 years in court losing 15k.
      - vkou 6y ago
        I'd probably be willing to lose 15k to not spend 3 years in court. Doubly so if it came after all the stress of custom-building a home. My blood pressure is worth more than that.
      - raverbashing 6y ago
        "Easily" Oh and the 15k are only for legal costs. Don't forget rent for 3 years on top of that. And all the money that you'll still have to pay for the construction. And stress (medical bills are not cheap).
      - ashtonkem 6y ago
        Usually they could before they built the house, but the phrase “house poor” exists in common parlance for a reason.
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
- Klinky 6y ago
  Is this really true? It doesn't seem like they consulted a lawyer. Consulting your contractor on what to do seems like a conflict of interest.
  - poulsbohemian 6y ago
    Probably depends on your local jurisdiction... I am not a lawyer but my own experiences tell me that any kind of civil case below about $50K, the courts would really you rather not bother them with this, and you are going to spend at least 20% of that and several years before you may or may not see a dime.
  - blaser-waffle 6y ago
    According to my neighbor, who is a lawyer and likes to drink, this is pretty common. He is on a lot of cases where the lawsuit makes him (the lawyer) more money than either party would have saved or lost had they just settled up front. The one I remember had to do w/ $1900 worth of lost wedding photos cuz a server died or got deleted. Cost more to twist the knife in court than to just settle.
pfhorge 6y ago
We had a frank conversation with the builder about costs, as well as what was and wasn't worth fighting over. Some items were able to be repaired without impacting the budget by subcontractors that were already coming in to do other things. Other things we didn't care enough about to make a fuss over (like the roof line not matching up right on the back side of the house, where no one will ever notice). Some things we asked her to fix at her expense. We were very aware that big projects, be they software or home construction, don't ever go perfectly, so we made a conscious effort to stay calm and solution-oriented through the entire multi-year process. We came in very slightly under budget, and things that need to get addressed are getting addressed, whereas a lawsuit would have turned things adversarial very quickly.
- samplatt 6y ago
  >We were very aware that big projects, be they software or home construction, don't ever go perfectly Most large projects have some central features/processes that are by their very nature both very expensive and very complicated. The entire prefab industry is built around minimising those things - but then something ELSE becomes the most expensive/complicated thing. You then have a situation where if you're seen as a bottleneck, holding up the expensive/complicated thing, then the total cost of the project will balloon. Many prefab companies know this and are happy to sell modules with little QA work done, because it's unlikely that there will be serious repercussions. Once you accept the work then it'll be too hard for your legal team to fight for (or at least, not financially worth it). I'm not saying that prefab companies are ethically bankrupt, but it IS an environment that promotes this method of doing business. I've been in construction for mining/oil&gas companies, on both sides of this situation, quite a few times. The amount of shoddy work you're willing to accept is quite terrifying once the cost for re-work gets into nine and ten digits.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

I imagine it's because he would be largely up against a company and litigators skilled at meeting the letter of the contract if not the spirit. "Winning" would likely see him get a minimum level of corrections done to the house, which could be accomplished for less than the cost of a lawsuit.

LatteLazy 6y ago

You'd spend 20k in legal fees to gets a 5k refund after 3 years of litigation.

xwdv 6y ago
It's about principles, not money.
- LatteLazy 6y ago
  Says the man who can afford to spend 3 years in court losing 15k :)
  - stephencanon 6y ago
    Anyone who takes on building a custom house can easily afford to spend 3 years in court losing 15k.
    - vkou 6y ago
      I'd probably be willing to lose 15k to not spend 3 years in court. Doubly so if it came after all the stress of custom-building a home. My blood pressure is worth more than that.
    - raverbashing 6y ago
      "Easily" Oh and the 15k are only for legal costs. Don't forget rent for 3 years on top of that. And all the money that you'll still have to pay for the construction. And stress (medical bills are not cheap).
    - ashtonkem 6y ago
      Usually they could before they built the house, but the phrase “house poor” exists in common parlance for a reason.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
Klinky 6y ago
Is this really true? It doesn't seem like they consulted a lawyer. Consulting your contractor on what to do seems like a conflict of interest.
- poulsbohemian 6y ago
  Probably depends on your local jurisdiction... I am not a lawyer but my own experiences tell me that any kind of civil case below about $50K, the courts would really you rather not bother them with this, and you are going to spend at least 20% of that and several years before you may or may not see a dime.
- blaser-waffle 6y ago
  According to my neighbor, who is a lawyer and likes to drink, this is pretty common. He is on a lot of cases where the lawsuit makes him (the lawyer) more money than either party would have saved or lost had they just settled up front. The one I remember had to do w/ $1900 worth of lost wedding photos cuz a server died or got deleted. Cost more to twist the knife in court than to just settle.

pfhorge 6y ago

We had a frank conversation with the builder about costs, as well as what was and wasn't worth fighting over. Some items were able to be repaired without impacting the budget by subcontractors that were already coming in to do other things. Other things we didn't care enough about to make a fuss over (like the roof line not matching up right on the back side of the house, where no one will ever notice). Some things we asked her to fix at her expense. We were very aware that big projects, be they software or home construction, don't ever go perfectly, so we made a conscious effort to stay calm and solution-oriented through the entire multi-year process. We came in very slightly under budget, and things that need to get addressed are getting addressed, whereas a lawsuit would have turned things adversarial very quickly.

samplatt 6y ago
>We were very aware that big projects, be they software or home construction, don't ever go perfectly Most large projects have some central features/processes that are by their very nature both very expensive and very complicated. The entire prefab industry is built around minimising those things - but then something ELSE becomes the most expensive/complicated thing. You then have a situation where if you're seen as a bottleneck, holding up the expensive/complicated thing, then the total cost of the project will balloon. Many prefab companies know this and are happy to sell modules with little QA work done, because it's unlikely that there will be serious repercussions. Once you accept the work then it'll be too hard for your legal team to fight for (or at least, not financially worth it). I'm not saying that prefab companies are ethically bankrupt, but it IS an environment that promotes this method of doing business. I've been in construction for mining/oil&gas companies, on both sides of this situation, quite a few times. The amount of shoddy work you're willing to accept is quite terrifying once the cost for re-work gets into nine and ten digits.