Location: Washington state.
I hired a contractor for a smallish (~$3.5k) of woodwork and paint. I paid a deposit of 2/3 the total price with the Renee upon completion. After three months of no shows and delays the first coat of paint went up — for a job that should have take 1-2 weeks. I notified the contractor of a punchlist of couple of issues and that another coat of paint would be.
The contractor claimed that the job was complete despite the punchlist not being completed and demanded payment (like that day) or threatened to file a lien and lawsuit. I insisted that I would pay once the job was complete. Meanwhile, the contractor was threatening lawsuits and to add on additional legal fees if I did not pay before the punch list was done.
The job was finally completed this week and when I went to pay the final amount the contractor claimed he had already filed a lien before the job was finished (last week) and was demanding an additional $1,000 over the agreed upon price for legal filing fees and other made up charges. He won’t accept the original payment and is now demanding more than double.
Should I just go to court and see if a judge would agree that I only need to pay the original amount and all the additional fees could have been avoided by completing the job and confirming payment details? I would like to just pay the agreed upon amount, but I think the contractor enjoys conflict and being spiteful.
It took about 3 weeks from the first coat of paint to the final. I think in EA contractors have 90 days to final a lien if they don’t get payment, but this guy seems litigious.