Owner Options to Sue before Breach by Contractor

In the instance of anticipatory breach, the owner of the building may sue the contractor for failure to perform or inexcusable delays that occur within the contract beginning or for the duration of the job. It is important to know when these elements exist and how to apply them to the situation between the contractor and owner.

Suing a contractor that is not currently in violation of a breach of the contract agreement is possible in certain situations. These issues usually entail the anticipatory breach connected to the refusal of the contractor to engage in or start working. If the person or company does not believe in the project, cannot connect with certain resources or contact and is unable to actually perform the tasks, he or she may refuse to participate in the job. This is a repudiation or anticipatory breach of the contract that permits the owner to either end the current assignment or sue the contractor.

Inexcusable Delays

The contractor that wins a bid or receives a project must perform the specified tasks in a service agreement, contract or personal agreement with the owner of the project. The documentation is normally binding between the two parties. While the owner may need to perform certain tasks, the contractor must complete the work. However, there are specific inexcusable delays that the owner may sue the contractor for with the job. These delays are the fault and responsibility of the contractor, and this is the reason why the owner may sue him or her in these circumstances. However, it is important to consult a lawyer before initiating the lawsuit.

Anticipatory Breach

Many contracts have a default clause that covers a pre-breach called anticipatory breach that may happen when the contractor refuses either to continue working or to complete the project. He or she may have valid reasons to stop the job, but in these circumstances, the owner of the contract may have options available to him or her. Even without the default clause to cover these situations, the owner may still sue the contractor through common law regulations that include the repudiation of a contract. In this event, the owner has remedy options available to him or her that he or she may pursue against the contractor.

Broken agreements or contracts in breach may lead to litigation. This is the same in an anticipatory breach because the contractor refuses to complete the project he or she signed willingly and voluntarily. Once he or she does complete the initial processes for the job through the written agreement, he or she is bound to the project. A repudiation of the contract has the same treatment as a breach. Then, the owner has various options open. However, he or she should still hire a lawyer to pursue such options to increase the chances of success in the courtroom.

The Default Clause

It is up to the contractor to perform the work in the project as specified in the contract. If he or she cannot continue due to issues out of his or her hands, the project may end without any further issues on either side of the contract. However, some agreements have default clauses that lead to an anticipatory breach or repudiation of the contractual agreement between owner and contractor. If the owner ensured that a default clause was put into the paperwork, he or she may have cause to sue the contractor as a remedy to the default or repudiation situation.