General contract issues and need help on how to handle

[Randall Re II]

I have two properties in rehab right now 3 houses apart from each other. Before I put down a big 50% down deposit on the properties and only the roof deposit of half for one of the houses, he was great. Easy to talk to, work with, everything. The moment I put 50% down on the projects (combined $25k plus). Now he’s garbage. 30 days late on both projects, a month late on the roof installation, I got fined by the city for the lawn getting out of control after he sent me photos saying he fixed it but left out he only had the front of the lawn fixed, and not the back.

I wanna fire him once I find a replacement. What’s the best way to do this so I can get the money back I gave him as I know he hasn’t done much work?

[Delwyn A.]

Personally, I only pay in installments based no the work completed. Typically, when contractors are paid in-full or paid the majority of the money upfront, their attitudes become a little less reliable. Not really sure what can be done at this point besides reporting them to the BBB, but (unfortunately) this may have to just be a learning experience moving forward.