construction
Hello & Thanks. My wife and I had a lovely custom home built and completed on 11/05. Our contractor was excellent. We went over budget and were awhere of that as was the contractor. Upon receiving our letter of occupancy we had figured the contractor would send us a final bill for the amount over the construction loan. We asked for six months and nevered received. The contractor moved to Georgia over a year ago and we figured that was the end. Over the weekend we received a call from the contractor stating that I have final completed the final bill and I would like for you to pay $4300. This is 2 1/2 years after the home was completed and moved in, is there a statue of time for collecting this money?
Re: construction
In California the statute of limitations for suit on an oral contract is two years and for a written contract it's four years. However, the statute of limitations is usually held to start running at the time the agreement is breached. In your situation, it seems to be more a matter of the contractor's delay in submitting the bill rather than your delay in paying it; so I'd reason that the breach occurred on the date the final bill should have been sent, not the date it was due and you failed to pay it.....there being an implied provision in the contract that a final bill will be rendered soon after the formal completion date.
I did a brief search to see if I could find a rule or statute requiring a contractor to present the final bill by a specific date. I did not find one; this does not mean than none exists. Usually the problem is the other way around, or at least involves a contractor trying to exact charges that the owner disputes.
If you don't dispute the amount, I'd suggest paying it in exchange for the contractor giving you a "paid in full" statement and his agreement to indemnify you against claims of any unpaid subs or materialmen.
