Homeowners Win $115K in Lawsuit in Breach of Contract Case

Robinson & Henry’s knowledgeable attorneys share their professional insights in “From Our Perspective,” where we take a closer look at real cases and successful outcomes achieved for our clients. 

In this episode, Robinson & Henry Litigation Partner Benjamin Whitney discusses a case where our clients paid a $17,000 down payment for a barn that never got built. After months of delays and broken promises, the homeowners were left with piles of metal parts, minimal site work, and a contractor who stopped responding to their calls. 

Their decision to hire Benjamin and Senior Associate Alicia Reinken resulted in a courtroom victory. A jury agreed that the couple had been wronged and awarded $115,000 in damages. 

Past results afford no guarantee of future results; each matter is different and must be judged on its own merits. Facts are those of an actual Robinson & Henry litigation case. 

The couple hired a contractor to build a custom prefabricated barn. The process was supposed to be simple. The homeowners would order the materials from a fabricator, and the contractor would assemble the structure on-site. 

Problems surfaced immediately. Months passed before the contractor even visited the property. The materials arrived later than expected. And after dropping off a bulldozer and pushing around some dirt, the contractor disappeared and never returned to complete the job.

By then, the homeowners had already paid a $17,000 deposit, and pallets of building materials sat untouched on their property. With calls and emails unanswered, they turned to Robinson & Henry’s Litigation Team for help.

When R&H Partner Benjamin Whitney reviewed the construction contract, the warning signs were clear. There were formatting issues, missing punctuation, and misspellings—signs of a quickly assembled document pieced together from online templates and other contracts rather than a professional legal agreement. 

Even worse, the contract was extremely one-sided in favor of the contractor.

Crucial homeowner protections were missing, and the contract lacked clear remedies if something went wrong. Unfortunately, by the time the homeowners realized they were dealing with an unreliable contractor, they had already signed the agreement and were stuck with the terms.

The case ultimately went to trial. The jury found that the contractor breached the terms of the contract and awarded the homeowners $115,000.

The case succeeded, in part, because our team focused on helping jurors understand what a typical Colorado construction project looks like. Most jurors have no direct experience with construction defects, so we called experienced, professional contractors to explain industry standards, reasonable timelines, and the appropriate communication between contractors and clients.

We also created a detailed timeline, showing the jury exactly how the project deteriorated from a signed contract to months of delays, missed deadlines, and total silence. After the evidence was presented, the jury had a clear picture of how the contractor failed to meet basic expectations.

Construction delays can happen for legitimate reasons. Weather, supply chain issues, and scheduling conflicts are often part of the process. However, when a contractor stops communicating or disappears entirely, it’s time to act.

If you’re a Colorado homeowner in this situation, it’s important to know that once communication breaks down, legal deadlines or notice requirements may apply. The sooner you get legal advice, the better your chance of recovering lost money and losing it permanently.

The biggest lesson from this case is simple: you should have a Colorado construction attorney review your contract before you sign it. 

A simple contract review can catch:

• Unprofessional or vague language

• Missing timelines or payment protections

• One-sided clauses favoring the contractor

• Missing remedies if work is delayed or never completed

Many people hesitate to involve a lawyer at the beginning. Some worry about cost, while others feel uncomfortable asking a contractor to wait while a contract is reviewed. But once the contract is signed, you’re legally bound to its terms. 

In this case, a review could have added important protection and accountability before any money changed hands. 

This case is a reminder that Colorado homeowners have legal options when contractors take advantage of them. If you’re dealing with a contractor dispute, breach of contract, or an incomplete construction project, our Colorado construction litigation attorneys can help. The best time to protect yourself is before the work begins. 

Contact Robinson & Henry for a consultation and protect your investment. Book online or call 303-688-0944.

Read this video’s full transcript:

Question: Ben thank you for joining me today. Tell me what happened to your client and why she reached out. 

Ben: Our client, she and her husband were going to build a barn. The barn itself is one of those sort of pre-fab type of things. You order the materials from the metal fabricator, and then the contractor assembles it. Our client hired the contractor, and then unfortunately, things kind of look bad right away. There were some delays, almost immediately. 

The contractor didn't come out to the property for several months after signing the contract. Then it was several months after that before the materials for the barn showed up. And then after that, the contractor didn't come out to build it. 

Our client was calling and emailing and generally trying to get ahold of this guy, and it wasn't happening. After he just went completely radio silent, that's when she called us for help. 

Question: And how much work did the contractor complete on the project? Not very much, right? 

Ben: No, almost nothing. The contractor came out, you know, a couple months after the contract was signed and brought a bulldozer and basically pushed some dirt around, sort of to prepare to get ready to put down the concrete, but never made it as far as actually getting it totally level.

Even that part wasn't done. The materials were delivered to the site. But in terms of work done, almost nothing. 

Question: What were some of the red flags that you saw in the contract? And also was there a down payment involved?

Ben: When I looked at this contract with, of course, with the benefit of hindsight. There were several things that jumped out to me. I noticed things right away. Things like missing punctuation, some misspelled words. Things that when you're spending that amount of money with somebody, you would expect a certain level of professionalism from the contract that just appeared to be missing.

There were also some things in this contract that made it very one-sided. It was apparent to me that this contract was probably pulled together from internet sources, from maybe some other contracts. This patchwork of things, as it came together again, was very one sided in favor of the contractor. 

Looking at it from the perspective of the client, it was missing a lot of protections that I would have wanted to be there and a lot of the remedies.

So that the client knew what to do in this type of situation where something went wrong. And yes there was a down payment. The client had to pay $17,000 to sign this contract.

Question: This case went to trial. What did the jury decide? 

Ben: The jury decided in our favor. A jury did determine that the contractor breached this contract and awarded our client $115,000.

Question: What do you think made the case so strong in front of the jury? 

Ben: When we look at these types of cases, we have to remember that the jurors who are coming in probably don't have a lot of experience with construction defect. 

We leverage sort of our experience that we have here as a firm combined with in this case, presenting testimony from other contractors to talk about what a construction project should look like, what the amount of communication should look like, and provide that information to the jury so they understand what the standard of care is and could see that in this case the contractor didn't live up to it.

I think then the other thing that we did that was very important for the jury was to take all the information that we got from the client because, you know, when the client comes in with this type of situation, they know something's gone wrong. They've got a stack of papers and problems, but they don't really know what to do with it.

For the jury, our job is to sort of repurpose that and prepare exhibits to help really establish a timeline. I think it was very important to show kind of point by point, how we get from contract being signed, and everything appears to be okay to now we've got materials are showing up late. There's excuses being made and then calls aren't even being answered.

Really line that up point by point to help the jury understand exactly what went wrong and when. I think by the time we were done presenting our case, I think before the contractor even had a chance to put on the side of the story, I think we basically won. 

Question: And for anyone watching who is about to sign a contract for a construction project, what advice do you have? 

Ben: Well, it's not much more than, get an attorney. You really need to do so at the beginning. I understand that there's probably some pressures that people feel not to get an attorney. Certainly there's a cost. I understand that, but a little bit of money spent on the front end may save you an awful lot of money and heartache later.

I think in this case, we're talking about it would have saved my client a lot of time and money. If she had hired an attorney, we'd had a chance to review that contract in the beginning. 

But the problem you have is once you sign that contract, you're stuck with it. In Colorado, courts apply a principle known as freedom of contract, which in fact means whatever you sign, you're stuck with. The judge is not going to bail you out later and say, “Yeah, with the benefit of hindsight, this contract was a little one-sided, was a little unfair.”

If you sign it, then you are bound by those terms. Really, in the beginning, is your chance to get it right. You need somebody right then and there on your side to read that contract. You need somebody with the knowledge and experience to say, hey, this is what's missing from the contract. This provision shouldn't be in there. These protections should be in there. Whatever it is, you need somebody at that point. That's when you need an attorney on your side advocating for you.