Albright Construction

I was referred to Jim Albright by my architect who had used him on several projects with good success. I was very nervous because I have been burned by general contractors in the past. My experiences with other bad contractors were first with quality of work, I learned how to overcome that on future projects, then with pre-paying for work and the contractor never doing it. With Jim, even though he came recommended, I wasn't going to get burned in those ways. So i structured the contract, which he even recommended, so that as each stage was completed, I would inspect quality, then pay him. That worked great. The foundation work, done, I paid. The framing work done, looked good, I paid. Then he hired subs to do the next several stages (roofing, AC/Heating, plumbing and electrical), this is where it all fell apart. The roofer came, A/C guy, plumber, and electrician and did their thing. They did a great job and I was pleased. So i paid Jim for the work. Great... not great. He stole the money, presumably to use it to pay other vendors from previous jobs where he had done this before, and DID NOT PAY my subs. So now, the work is done, the subs are coming to me with lien notices because they didn't get paid and because I'm the homeowner in California, I'm on the hook (which is a totally lame law by the way). What's the point of even hiring a licensed contractor if I'm on the hook for work I paid him for, its absurd. So now I had to DOUBLE PAY the subs. My roof was bid at 15K, I paid 15K, then I had to pay 15K again. So my roof is now 30K because Jim stole 15K from me. And the same thing with the AC guy, the plumber and electrician. Of course I fired him, and took over the job, which incidentally I'm able to manage so much faster and cheaper than him. Total waste hiring a general contractor when I can just find great vendors on Angies List for every service and go direct, cheaper, faster, done. Now I have to sue him and hope that one day he trys to sell his house and I get my $40K back. It's a total bone.