Two New Jersey Statutes that Help Homeowners Being Sued by a Contractor
Common Story:
You hired a contractor to do home improvement work on your home. But the contractor charged you more than you originally agreed, or did not do the work properly, or is demanding full payment before the work has been completed. You refused to make your final payment, and the contractor has filed a lawsuit against you.
You already feel that you’ve been cheated. You don’t want to lose more money by hiring a lawyer. You don’t want to waste your time fighting a lawsuit that you think will just be your word against the contractor’s. You’re stuck between a rock and hard spot. What can you do to make things right?
New Jersey lawmakers gave you options and defenses in these situations. The best part? They’ve made them accessible for you even if you think you cannot afford an attorney to help you!
New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and Home Improvement Practices Regulations
Two statutes in NJ not only protect you from predatory practices by contractors, but also make it so you can hire competent counsel to represent you without breaking the bank. Let’s take a look at these statutes.
New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (“Fraud Law”) Used as a Shield
Homeowners can use the New Jersey’s Fraud Law to sue a contractor, or to defend themselves when a contractor has sued a homeowner. This article focuses on how the Fraud Law can be used as a shield to protect a homeowner when a contractor files a lawsuit against them.
New Jersey Courts have held that a homeowner is entitled to have a contractor pay the homeowner’s attorneys’ fees where the contractor violates the Fraud Act. The good news for homeowners being sued, is that most contractors violate the Fraud Act in multiple ways with every contract they have. Often, the contractor has violated the Fraud Act before they even begin working on the project.
Why is this Important?
First of all, this arms homeowners with the ability to hire an attorney, often at no out of pocket cost, or at a low out of pocket cost. Since it is likely that the contractor will end up having to pay the homeowner’s legal fees, you can afford to hire an attorney who knows how to use this law to protect you, and to make the contractor back off.
One way that most New Jersey contractors violate the Fraud Act is by failing to put in their contracts specific language that they are required to put in every contract in New Jersey. That is where the Home Improvement Practices Regulations come into play.
Home Improvement Practices Regulations (“Home Improvement Regs”)
The Home Improvement Regs is basically a list of things that contractors are required to do. Any violation of the Home Improvement Regs, is automatically considered to be a violation of the Fraud Act by the courts. This means that if the contractor fails to do any of the statutory requirements set out in the Home Improvement Regs, then they will be forced to pay your attorney’s fee for you! Therefore, it’s not only free for you to hire an attorney, it also puts pressure on the contractor to end the lawsuit early so that they don’t have to pay increasing attorney’s fees as the case moves along.
In my experience, nearly all contractors in New Jersey violate the Home Improvement Practices Regs at some point in their interactions with a homeowner. It is highly likely that if your contractor is suing you, they have violated the Home Improvement Regs.
Speak with an attorney. You have nothing to lose.
We offer a free consultation to homeowners who are being sued by their contractor. You do not need to defend yourself in a lawsuit filed by your contractor.
During your free consultation, we will review your contracts. We will assess the strength of the contractor’s claims. We will also discover whether you have viable counter claims. We will discuss with you our plan to not only defend you, but also to likely put you on the attack in the case. We know all of the ways these statutes protect you, and we will use them to get you the best results possible.
If you are not happy with your contractor, and now they are suing you, call us today.