Florida Property Owner Representation
You Paid for Work
That Isn't There.
The draws ran ahead of the job. Then the calls stopped getting returned. You are holding a half built project and a budget that no longer covers finishing it. In Florida, that is not just a broken promise. There are statutes written for exactly this.
Talk to an attorney, not an intake form.
The Clocks Already Running
Your Contractor Knows These Dates. Most Owners Never Hear Them.
Every one of these is a date that either creates a right for you or takes one away. They run whether or not anyone tells you about them.
After taking a deposit over ten percent, a residential contractor has to apply for permits within thirty days.
Fla. Stat. 489.126Work has to begin within ninety days of that deposit unless your contract says something different.
Fla. Stat. 489.126A written refund demand sent by certified mail starts a thirty day clock. Ignoring it carries consequences the contractor will not like.
Fla. Stat. 489.126(4)Ninety consecutive days with no work and no legal reason is abandonment, and abandonment is a licensing violation.
Fla. Stat. 489.129If the problem is bad work rather than missing work, Chapter 558 notice comes first and the response clock runs from service.
Fla. Stat. 558.004Breach of a written construction contract carries a four year limitations period, and it does not wait for you to feel ready.
Fla. Stat. 95.11Who This Page Is For
When to Hire a Construction Attorney as a Property Owner
The common thread is not the size of the house. It is the gap between what you have paid and what is standing on the property. If you are looking for a lawyer for a contractor dispute and you are the one who paid, this is the page.
Mid Renovation, Money Gone
Kitchen, addition, pool, whole house remodel. Two or three draws in, the crew thinned out and then stopped coming.
New Custom Build That Stalled
You are financing a build, the bank has released draws against percentages that were never actually reached, and the site is quiet.
Investment and Rental Property
A flip or a rental rehab where every idle month costs you carry, and the contractor moved your money to somebody else's job.
Small Commercial Owners
A buildout that will not finish, a tenant waiting on delivery, and a general contractor who has gone quiet on the schedule.
Paid in Full and Then Liened
You paid the contractor everything and a subcontractor you never hired recorded a lien against your title anyway.
Already Sued
You have been served over a balance you dispute, on a job you say was never finished. The clock started when you were served.
When You Should Not Hire Us
If your whole loss is a few thousand dollars, an attorney is the wrong tool. Fees will eat the recovery and small claims court is built for exactly that case. We will tell you so on the first call, for free, and point you at the right form. Where a lawyer earns the fee is the case where the gap runs into the tens of thousands, the contractor is still operating and collecting from other owners, and there are statutory claims sitting on the table that a small claims filing will never reach.
The Legal Shape of It
What Florida Calls It When a Contractor Takes the Money and Walks
Most owners describe this as being ripped off, and then assume the only answer is a breach of contract suit against a company with nothing in it. That undersells the position. The same set of facts usually supports several claims at once, and some of them reach past the LLC.
Breach and Abandonment
The contract claim is the floor, not the ceiling. Ninety consecutive days of no work with no legal excuse is also abandonment under the licensing statute, which puts the license itself in play.
Misapplication of Construction Funds
Florida makes it a crime to take money for your job and spend it on something else while your suppliers and subs go unpaid. The exposure scales with the amount, and it is aimed at the person who moved the money.
The Deposit and Start Statute
Take a deposit over ten percent on a residential job and the permit and start clocks begin. Miss them, ignore a certified mail refund demand for thirty days, and the statute supplies a presumption the contractor has to answer for.
An Unlicensed Contractor
If the contractor was not properly licensed for the work performed, the contract is not enforceable by them and your remedies expand. This is worth checking on every file before anything else is filed.
The Recovery Fund
When a licensed contractor is judgment proof, Florida's Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund can pay on a qualifying judgment for work at an owner occupied residence. It has caps and strict procedure, and most owners never learn it exists.
Reaching the Individual
Dissolving the company is a common move and it is not always the end of the road. Depending on the facts, personal guarantees, the funds statute, and criminal restitution can each put the individual back in the case.
Anatomy of the Loss
Suing a Contractor in Florida Starts with One Number
Not what you paid. The gap between what you paid and what is actually standing on your property, measured against what it now costs to finish. Front loaded draw schedules are how that gap gets built, one signature at a time.
| Draw | Paid | In Place |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Deposit and mobilization | $18,000 | $2,500 |
| 2. Permits, demo, footings | $9,000 | $6,800 |
| 3. Framing and dry-in Released on a photo of delivered lumber | $8,500 | $4,200 |
| 4. Rough-in, MEP Billed and paid before inspection | $4,500 | $0 |
| 5. Drywall through finish | $0 | $0 |
Illustration only. Figures are a composite of the pattern we see, not any client's file.
The Contract Price Is Not Your Damage
On a $60,000 contract with $40,000 paid, the loss is not the $40,000. It is what a replacement contractor now charges to finish, less whatever is left unpaid under the original deal. That number is usually larger than owners expect, and it is the number that makes the case worth bringing.
Where the Money Went Matters
If your draws paid off the last owner's job, that is not bad luck. It goes to the funds statute and it changes who can be held responsible.
Get a Completion Bid Early
A written bid from a licensed replacement contractor is the single most useful document you can bring us. It sets the damage figure and it starts your duty to mitigate on the right footing.
Do Not Let Them Back On Site Casually
Sometimes the right move is to demand they return and finish. Sometimes it hands them another six weeks and another draw. That decision should be made before you send the email, not after.
How We Work the File
From the First Call to a Judgment You Can Collect
The Free Fifteen Minutes
You tell us what you paid, what is standing, and who the contractor is. We tell you whether this is a case for a lawyer, a case for small claims, or a case that needs one letter and nothing more. No charge and no pressure.
Build the Money Picture
Contract, every draw and how it was released, texts and emails, photos with dates, permit history, and a completion bid. This is where cases are won, before anything is filed.
The Statutory Demand
Not a form letter. A demand sent the way the statute requires, saying what the law says it has to say, so that ignoring it costs the contractor something real. A meaningful share of these files resolve here.
Pressure the License, Not Just the Company
Where the facts support it we run parallel tracks: a complaint to the licensing board, the funds statute, and the record you will need later if the Recovery Fund becomes the collection path.
Suit, and Clearing Your Title
If they have liened you on top of everything else, that gets addressed at the same time, whether by contest, transfer to bond, or attacking the lien itself. Our litigation attorneys try the case. John stays on the file.
Collection Is the Real Finish Line
A judgment against an empty LLC is paper. We plan for collection from the first week: who else is on the hook, what assets exist, and whether the Recovery Fund is in play.
Before You Call, Do These Three Things
- Photograph the site today, wide shots and close ups, before anything changes.
- Stop paying. Do not release another draw to buy goodwill.
- Put the request to return and finish in writing, and keep it civil. It will be read back later.
Related
Other Sides of the Same Job
Construction Defect Claims
When the work got finished but it is wrong, the path runs through Chapter 558 first.
Lien on Your TitleFlorida Construction Liens
How liens are created, what makes one defective, and how an owner gets a cloud off the title.
Before You SignContract Review for Owners
Draw schedules, scope, and termination rights. Fixing these costs nothing compared to fighting them.
Why This Firm
We Represent Contractors Every Day. That Is the Advantage.
When we sit on your side of the table, we already know the arguments coming: what the contract language is supposed to do for them, which delays get blamed on inspectors, and how a walk gets dressed up as a suspension for nonpayment. We have written those letters for the other side.
Martin Law, PLLC does construction law and nothing else, statewide. Owners come to us for a construction dispute attorney who already knows how the other side builds its file.
Talk to an Attorney- Board CertifiedJohn Martin is Board Certified in Construction Law by The Florida Bar, a credential held by a small percentage of Florida attorneys.
- Grew Up on the Job SiteHe worked construction before he practiced law and ran construction businesses as an adult. That shapes how a file gets evaluated.
- Direct AccessYou call or text and you reach an attorney, not an intake queue.
- Hourly, No Retainer to StartWe bill hourly and we do not ask for a retainer to open the conversation. What it will cost is discussed before you commit to anything.
Do This Yourself, Today
Four Things You Can Check Before You Call Anyone
- Look up the license.Florida's licensing portal shows whether the contractor is licensed, what for, and whether there is discipline on the record.
- Pull the permit history.Your county or city building department will tell you whether a permit was ever applied for, and when it expired.
- Search the official records for your address.Liens and notices of commencement are recorded and public. Find out what is on your title before someone else tells you.
- Get one completion bid in writing.From a licensed contractor, itemized. It is your damage number and it takes a week to get.
Questions Owners Actually Ask
Frequently Asked
Yes. Taking payment and walking off is a breach of contract, and on most of these facts it is more than that. Depending on what happened to the money, whether the contractor was licensed, and how the deposit was taken, several statutory claims can run alongside the contract claim. The practical question is not whether you can sue. It is what you can collect, and that is worth sorting out before you file.
It can be. Florida has a statute aimed at contractors who take money for your project and apply it somewhere else, and a separate one covering deposits where no permit is pulled and no work begins. Both can carry criminal exposure that scales with the dollar amount. Whether a state attorney takes it up is another matter, but the exposure is real, and it changes the tone of a negotiation.
That is the first thing we look at, not the last. Sometimes there is a personal guarantee. Sometimes the way the funds were handled reaches the individual directly. And where the contractor was licensed and the work was at an owner occupied home, Florida's Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund can pay on a qualifying judgment, subject to caps and strict procedure. A dissolved LLC is a problem to plan around, not automatically the end.
Substantially. An unlicensed contractor generally cannot enforce the contract against you, and Florida gives owners additional remedies for damage caused by unlicensed work. It also affects what other options are available, including the Recovery Fund, which is tied to licensed contractors. Check the license before you do anything else.
This is common and it has a specific answer under Chapter 713. Whether you owe anything depends on the notices that were served, the timing, and whether you got proper releases before you paid. Some of these liens are defective on their face. Others are valid and have to be dealt with by contest, transfer to bond, or negotiation. It does not clear itself, and it will surface at your next sale or refinance.
Breach of a written construction contract in Florida carries a four year limitations period, and defect claims have their own trigger dates plus an outside repose deadline. Licensing complaints and Recovery Fund claims have shorter, separate windows. Waiting to see if the contractor comes back is the single most expensive thing owners do.
If your loss is a few thousand dollars, probably yes, and we will say so on the phone. Small claims is quick and it does not need a lawyer. It also caps out well below what an owner loses in a real abandonment, and it is not a forum for the statutory claims that make these cases collectible. The bigger the gap between what you paid and what is standing, the less small claims fits.
Plenty of contractor disputes get settled without one. A clear letter, the permit record, and a firm deadline will move some contractors. What changes the math is money already gone, a contractor who has stopped answering, or a lien on your title. At that point you are not negotiating any more, you are building a case, and the statutory claims that make these files collectible are not obvious from the outside. That is where a contractor dispute lawyer earns the fee.
We bill hourly and there is no retainer required to start the conversation. The first call, about fifteen minutes, is free, and part of what it is for is telling you honestly whether the fees make sense against what you stand to recover. Rates and terms go in the engagement letter, not on a website.
Talk to an Attorney
Every Week You Wait, the Money Gets Further Away.
Tell us what you paid and what is standing. Fifteen minutes, no charge, and a straight answer about whether you need a lawyer at all.
The information on this page is general and is not legal advice about your situation. Deadlines and remedies turn on facts and on the version of the statute in effect. Submitting a message or calling does not create an attorney client relationship. Martin Law, PLLC, P.O. Box 536, Ocala, FL 34478.