Can a consumer cancel a check for deposit to a service company?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can a consumer cancel a check for deposit to a service company?
A homeowner cancelled a deposit check for ceiling repair and roof repair services. We are 2/3 the way
done with work when check was cancelled with no warning or notice. The customer says that we left mess at jobsite.
Asked on May 16, 2017 under Business Law, Kansas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
You can sue the homeowner for breach of contract: they are obligated to pay you what they agreed to pay you for the work. Since they have materially (or in an important or significant way) breached the agreement by canceling the deposit, you may treat the contract as terminated by their breach while suing for all monies due under it. (The court might reduce that amount by any savings you realized by not having to pay for further materials or labor.) If your work was negligent or unprofessional, that could act as an offset vs. what they owe you, or even--if it was bad enough--mean you had breached first (by doing such bad work) and they owe you nothing; but let them claim that in court and try to prove it. They would need to be able to prove the problems with your work by a "preponderance of the evidence" (or "more likely than not") for this to be successful defense to their obligation to pay as per the contract.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.