Anyone filed a claim against a contractors bond?

[MikeGyver]

The contractor I hired to remodel my pool screwed things up bad enough that I fired him and decided to file a claim against his bond. A complaint was concurrently sent to the CSLB. I'm curious what to expect from them in regards to trying to low ball or delay payment. Has anyone here gone through a claim against a contractors bond before?

 

[afm199]

You did the right thing. If you have a decent case they will take your side. The CSLB suspends and jerks licenses many many times yearly from errant contractors. Get your paperwork and photos in order.

The bond is only, IIRC $5-10k. And they have no reason to delay it if you win. They don't pay it, the contractor has to take out a bond from a private company.

Just be sure you have plenty of proof of bad work, warnings, and pictures. If this is just he said, she said, forget it.

 

[MikeGyver]

I have emails, texts, correction notices from the city, a third party contractors statement, pictures, videos, etc. I laid it all out in a professional manner in a 3 ring binder.

His bond is $15k and I'm going after all of it. I'm just wondering if they'll try to hassle me with low ball offers.

 

[afm199]

I have emails, texts, correction notices from the city, a third party contractors statement, pictures, videos, etc. I laid it all out in a professional manner in a 3 ring binder.

His bond is $15k and I'm going after all of it. I'm just wondering if they'll try to hassle me with low ball offers.

Excellent. Don't worry about it too much. If you have good documentation they will ding him. And it sounds like you do. SCLB is not really partisan. They try to protect the reputation of licensed contractors, and prosecute those who fail the standards. They don't give a shit about the amount as long as it's fair.

 

[Hey You!]

Dealt with that over a hardwood floor.
Contractor wanted nothing to do with fixing his bad install or even talking to me.
Went for the bond. Very straight forward and easy. They sent someone out to inspect the job. A week later I received a copy of his report along with the review and recommendations.
As the Contractor didn't follow "best practices", code, etc. they awarded me the whole bond value in the form of a check, $12,500 IIRC.
The Contractor could have fixed things to my satisfaction for much much less than that, but the shifty little weasel didn't want to go that route.
Instead, he got the (financial) shaft as well as losing out on a substantial amount of work elsewhere. Go figger, eh?

 

[MikeGyver]

Went for the bond. Very straight forward and easy... they awarded me the whole bond value in the form of a check

Good to hear, thank you! Our contractor didn't follow any best practices either. He submitted plans for a new pool for the permit when our project was for a pool remodel, which the city now agrees they mistakenly approved. All the work was done before the permit was approved. The rebar work was supposed to be doweled and epoxied into the existing gunite structure. Many places were not doweled and none of it was epoxied. The plumbing was a joke. It all has to be ripped out and redone. Those are just the major issues. The list of minor-medium issues is quite long.

 

[zphreak]

Who'd you use? We're looking to have a pool done this summer and want to stay away. PM if you'd like to keep it out of public.

 

[Hey You!]

Good to hear, thank you! Our contractor didn't follow any best practices either. He submitted plans for a new pool for the permit when our project was for a pool remodel, which the city now agrees they mistakenly approved. All the work was done before the permit was approved. The rebar work was supposed to be doweled and epoxied into the existing gunite structure. Many places were not doweled and none of it was epoxied. The plumbing was a joke. It all has to be ripped out and redone. Those are just the major issues. The list of minor-medium issues is quite long.

Yowza! Sounds like a mess! I don't think you'll have any problem getting the $$. This will make for good stories while you're lounging about in the pool this summer :teeth

 

[MikeGyver]

Who'd you use? We're looking to have a pool done this summer and want to stay away. PM if you'd like to keep it out of public.

PM'ed. I'd like to refrain from mentioning the company name in the public forum until the dust settles.

This will make for good stories while you're lounging about in the pool this summer :teeth

You are very right. This will make for a good story for a very long time.