What If My Reno Screws Up? Sue Them?
One of the biggest questions homeowner have is their legal recourse if things go south with their IDs or contractors.
But let me tell you - don’t rely on legal means, or don’t think that you can rely on legal means.
Watch our tiktok channel if you lazy to read.
This includes your contractual agreements, CASE, small claims tribunals, real court court cases etc.
Before we get sued (lol), we are not saying that they are useless.
We are saying that the effort and mental stress to go through those, with uncertainty in the outcome, is not worth it.
Example 1
CNA previously covered a case surrounding legal claims filed against an ID firm for unfinished homes, overdue payments, and unpaid wages. We actually interviewed this homeowner on our tiktok too.
See this excerpt.
“The entire experience has left those affected questioning if there is any recourse for them.
Enforcing the Small Claims Tribunal order would require him to spend more time and money on legal fees, said Mr Goh, a home owner who was awarded a money order of S$20,200 on Jul 18.
Lawyer Nicolas Tang said the tribunal can “only go so far as to decide who is in the wrong and which party ought to compensate another. Simply put, the order is a paper judgment and therefore even if a party is successful in the claim, the other side may be unwilling to comply with the order.”
Example 2
This comment was from our tiktok video, and is a super common tactic by scammy IDs.
Start abit of work (hacking), and then stop.
Because work has started, this constitutes a contractual dispute, not a violation.
End result, the case drags further. Homeowners lose.
Then How?
Market forces is the way to go. That’s how we control our IDs & contractors.
Not here to promote our platform la, but when you give them:
The right incentive (good quality leads)
Barter trade with them (you better serve the leads properly)
And ringfence with safeguards (homeowners’ reviews etc)
You create a much safer environment.
They know that if they screw up, we’ll ban them and burn them.
Similarly as homeowners, if you wanna go nuclear and threaten with legal, sure.
Sue the ID, sue the contractor. But in reality, you’re in for a long, expensive, and uncertain process.
What’s the point? It’s not about your ego or winning the war, its finding the safest way to make your renovation go smoothly.
Give them a reason to work properly for you.
TLDR
Don’t rely on legal stuff for your reno works.
It is often lengthy, uncertain and mentally stressful.
If you are looking to shortlist reliable IDs/contractors for your reno, feel free to enquire here, or check out our blog for other important tips!!