JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
....

7) Have an attorney draft a "legal letter" alleging breach of
contract and fraud
7) File a civil lawsuit alleging breach of contract and fraud
8) File for mediation (as has been stipulated to in the contract)

So, which of the above do you think are valid, and are there any other
avenues I can pursue? I would prefer to have to actually **do** none
of the above, but I will definitely go all the way if I have to. ...

Assuming you're sure you can stand in front of a judge and clearly point out
real breaches of the contract, I'd go with the last 3 actions first. The
rest are lightweight and a waste of time compared to the last 3.

Say you get a judgment -- how you going to collect?

If he performed work, he's probably entitled to a fair amount of the
payment for services rendered whether you're completely satisfied or
not. How much would be part of what the suit would be over. The burden
of proof will be on your side to prove that your complaints are
sufficient as to rise to the level of breach of contract so unless
you're expert enough or the case is really _so_ bad as to be evident
(unlikely, I would guess) to be able to show this, you'll likely need
some expert witness(es) to bolster your claims either in person or at
least by written testimony (which you may or may not be able to
introduce in small claims court).

Before you go too far, you need to find out about this guy's past
history--many shoddy contractors are sued over and over and over and
simply dissolve one business and form another or hold every attachable
asset in wife's name or other diversionary scheme so there's nothing to
get...

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