Handyman wants to rent my house before the rehab is complete

[Christina Haws]

Hello! We have a contractor that we hired to rehab/remodel a house for a rental. We had a contract with the contractor that said the remodel needed to be done in 8 weeks with an option to go out 10 weeks if needed. We are now at 4 weeks past that deadline. The house is not done and still needs a fair amount done. Unfortunately, we have paid all the money that was originally requested for the work. (I know that was a wrong move on our part and I had wanted to do the payment portion differently but that's a whole other story). In the contract, we offered an incentive to get the house done early or on time but that hasn't helped. We don't have much leverage now since they have received all their money. They are still working on it but it seems like it is not a priority anymore. The contractor has a friend (named Logan) helping on the house and we have met him once and he seems like a respectable person and good worker. The friend, Logan, contacted me to see if we might be interested in renting the house to him for a reduced rate and he could continue to work on the house while he lived there. We would require him to fill out an application and be sure he passes all the requirements. At this point, we are losing money so it sounds like it might be a good move for a short period of time. The problem I have is, the original contractor, that we signed the contract with, still needs incentive and should be required to follow through and finish the house up! What do you suggest we do? This was set up as a BRRRR and we want to refinance in a few months so we need the house done.

Thank you!