Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Imagine hiring a contractor, giving him thousands of dollars for a down payment, only to have to hire another contractor to do the job.
That's what a Salt Lake woman, Lena Tran, said happened to her. She hired a contractor to pour concrete for a new driveway, patio and a footing for a new room. However, she said he gave her problems from the start.
First, he delayed the job's start by six weeks, she said.
“I called and called,” Tran said. “He never responded. He just gave me a lot of excuses.”
Once he did start, Tran said he took out some grass and soil and built some concrete forms, but she said he never returned, despite getting a $2,000 down payment from her.
“He used the money toward supplies and toward materials and some of his labor for his people,” Tran said.
The contractor left her with uneven ground that wasn't even dug deep enough to pour concrete, Tran said: “I couldn’t sleep for many nights because I deserve good work for good pay,” she said.
Tran said a friend referred her to the contractor. Regardless, it often pays to check out the contractor before handing over a down payment.
“It’s absolutely critical for you to realize who it is you’re working with,” said Jaren Davis, the executive officer of the Salt Lake Home Builders Association.
To find out who Tran was working with, KSL went to the Utah Department of Occupational and Professional Licensing and found the contractor had no license.
“It’s absolutely critical for you to realize who it is you’re working with." - Jaren Davis, Salt Lake Home Builders Association
“Anytime a consumer is going into any type of relationship, you need to see that the individual is, in fact, what they’re representing,” Davis said.
Tran paid her contractor $2,000 up front with a personal check. Davis said beware of contractors who ask for cash only.
“The cash industry is involved in not complying with taxes, those kinds of issues. So you’ve got to think to yourself, cash, really?” Davis said.
Generally speaking, a contractor can ask for a 15-30 percent down payment, maybe to pay for materials, but all that can be spelled out in a contract. Tran got a contract, but it was open-ended with few details and no deadlines.
“That contract allows you to fall back on something, where you can say, 'Oh, OK, I misunderstood' Or the contractor can say, 'Oh, I misunderstood,'” Davis explained.
Tran eventually hired a licensed contractor.
The Salt Lake Home Builders Association created a list of member contractors and says if problems arise that can't be fixed, it might be able to help resolve the situation.
