Arlington subcontractor who didn't get job is trying to get paid anyway
SMU Law Professor Julie Forrester explains the Texas law on paying for estimates.
By DAVE LIEBER
WATCHDOG@ STAR-TELEGRAM.COM
A subcontractor reacted in an unusual way when he wasn't selected for a job for which he had bid $19,000.
Tim Anders, owner of Anders Interiors in Arlington, sent an e-mail in September to homeowner Maebe Davis laying out his request for a payment anyway. . .
Davis and her mother, Florence Siao, contacted The Watchdog to see whether Anders could make them pay for an estimate, file a lien against the property or report them to the government if illegal workers were involved in the job. . .
In Texas, some estimates cost money. If an auto repair shop hooks up a car to a diagnostic machine, accepted practice is to tell the customer of any cost ahead of time.
"People assume that you don't get charged for an estimate," says SMU Dedman School of Law professor Julie Forrester. "If someone is going to charge, they should make that very clear."
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