KRAUSE CONSTRUCTION

We began discussions in spring 2007 with the contractor to add a bathroom and expand our upstairs living space. We told them we were on a tight timeline and had to have the major work completed (minus painting, etc.) by the end of August. We signed the contract in early June, paid 1/3 down ($9,000+) and the contractor promised that work would start imminently, it didn't. After repeated failed attempts to find out the status of our permit/work start time, we wrote to terminate the contract on July 23. That same day, we contacted the company by phone and they said we would receive a check for $7,800 in the next few days. They never sent the check, even though we contacted them repeatedly over the next few weeks and months. They said this situation had never occurred before, and they had to research the accounting implications. After three months of waiting for our deposit, we hired a lawyer to begin legal proceedings against the company for the return of our money.