Contractor started working even though I didn't accept bid

[Ferdi Eruysal]

I want to pick your brain for an interesting situation.

I lived in Chicago for 11 years. I am currently living in Texas. I bought a single family house in Chicago suburbs via a real estate agent almost a month ago. After the transaction I went abroad, and I recently arrived Chicago to start the project. When I got into house, I am shocked as bathroom and kitchen are demoed. 

I called agent to learn what is going on. The agent told me that they had communication problems with a contractor and contractor demoed the kitchen and bathroom. I rehabbed 3 houses before. All I can tell you is that bathroom and kitchen were fine for at least 10 more years. All I need to do is paint kitchen cabinets, replace toilet and bathroom vanity. 

Before I went abroad, we got a bid from contractor. My real estate agent knew the contractor very well. I believe contractor did lots of rehabs for agent's clients before. I rejected the bid as this was a lot considering the amount of work. I believe contractor thinks I am newbie and wants to charge a lot. I got similar things done for one third of what contractor is asking for.  So, he got into property without my knowledge and demoed the kitchen and bathroom.

I googled the contractor. He has excellent reviews. My real estate agent is also pretty good. I just want to pick your brain for this problem. What should I do? Should I sue the contractor/real estate agent as I have to build kitchen and bathroom from scratch now? Should I report this to the police? If you happen to know any expert(attorney, another investor) that could help, please contact me.

Thanks,

[Andrew B.]

Wow! What a story. If I were in your shoes, I would contact contractor directly, assuming he knows he ****ed up, and see what he is willing to do to alleviate the problem. If he is unwilling to cooperate, then contact an attorney, and perhaps file a police report for trespassing and destruction of property.

Your results will depend on what you want out of it. Since everything is demoed anyway, maybe you can use the opportunity to install new fixtures and tell contractor you will not pay for labor. This could be a cheap way to get all new kitchen and bath. Or if you are really against that you can tell him he should replace with similar items out of his own pocket. I find when you approach with lawyers and legal threats, people become combative. Ask him an open ended question, and see what he is willing to do to fix it.