HELP! Contractor Woes on my first investment property!

[Katelynn Malivert]

Hi All,

My significant other and I recently bought a duplex with the intention of house hacking back in August of this year. We knew that the unit we were going to occupy needed significant renovations. After interviewing several contractors in our area, we thought we chose the best fit. We were terribly wrong. In the beginning, the contractor was very responsive and attentive to our requests. He said he was going to have our renovations done by the end of October 2023 (he started in Sept). Instead, he has been dragging his feet, dodging our calls and honestly has stopped working on the unit all together. I have already incrementally paid him a total of 36k (w/ credit card)  and I don’t know what to do. At this point, I’m considering disputing some of the payments with my bank as he has not provided the agreed upon services. We want to settle this amicably but at the moment this contractor isn’t picking up our calls. As you can imagine, we are racking up expenses as we have to rent elsewhere because the unit is uninhabitable. I greatly appreciate your advice. Thanks in advance!