Roger Anda

A few years back while I was finishing up my undergraduate degree in Bloomington. My mom was looking into getting a new roof, all the neighbors had gotten new roofs that were covered by insurance after a storm came through but she didn’t know about this and she missed the window that she could have gotten it covered. Instead of letting it continue to leak and cause mold, she took the matter into her own hands and called up a company and signed a deal. She did not get multiple quotes but worse yet, she didn’t even read the contract. When I returned home things were already a mess, there was a missing piece of fascia that the company did not want to come back out to her home to fix, despite them being the reason that piece of fascia was missing in the first place. And worse yet, after I read the contract, I realized she did not have any meaningful ways to deal with this.

I am not going to go into too much detail because the company that did the work can afford much better lawyers than me and I want to get to the point anyway. Once you sign the contract, it is enforced as-is, any verbal agreement or context will not be taken into consideration. If you want something out of the contract or written in, bring a pen to the paper and have both of you initial where that occurs otherwise the words of the salesman means absolutely nothing. Only the most predatory of contracts are not enforceable but if you need to determine if its enforceable, I cannot help you, you need to find a lawyer. A great number of personal crises could be avoided from reading what you are signing before you sign.

Where I come in:

As a local home improvement expert, I cannot offer legal advice or interpretation. I can however, make sure you are working with reputable businesses that do not rely on predatory tactics. I can also help you understand your contract in non-legal ways, which I admit is probably not too helpful given contracts are primarily legal in nature. If this sounds like something you think would help with your next big project, reach out today.