Contractor refusing to give information or sign over permits

[Andrew Tonkin]

So I've had a remodel project go south pretty bad. I hired a GC to flip a house that I bought(adding on to it as well), took out a hard money loan to purchase the property and after months of BS and no work I decided to pull the plug and dump the project. I don't have the money to keep going on the project.

Problem I am having is with the GC. I told the GC that I would not be continuing with the project due to the project taking longer than expected and my running out of funds. He was upset and at this point is refusing to sign over the building permits to me so I can sell the property. He is also refusing to release any information from the city including the comments list or anything. He is saying he has the right to do this because it is his project. He has been handling the process up until now and I don't have much information because he has refused to share. I have a buyer lined up but they want control of the permits since that's part of the value. 

I thought I could just bypass this GC and reapply for the permits, resubmit the plans through a permit expediter but now GC is claiming that he owns the rights to all the permits and plans including the structural plans and architectural plans(i thought the architect owned copyright?) and that he'll sue me if I resubmit using the same designs. I don't see how this is possible because I paid for all of this to be done and its clearly outlined in the first draw request. He received a $30,000 check to cover architectural, structural, permits, and the first stages of work including site prep for the addition and materials(no materials have been bought or work done aside from the plans and permits which is roughly $10k total, he is refusing to return the other $20k saying it was spent on the project but is not able to document what it was spent on.)

I am going to sue his company for the unspent remainder of the first construction draw, but my first priority is getting the property sold so I can stop making hard money payments. I am so close to running out of money and don't know what to do at this point. Can anyone provide any advice? Does the GC really own the plans and permits even if I paid for them and can he sue me if I resubmit? 

[Steve Morris]

Well, since you're principal on the permits, think it'd be worth calling city planning to see if you can assume.

The plans are stickier since don't know the architects agreement with the GC, so you may need an atty.

If the guy is being an a-hole in fact, might be worth calling the CCB to see if you can file for some cause.