Re: Steps to Take When Your Contractor Walks Away

Yesterday's SF Chronicle Real Estate Mailbag, a column by Benny L. Kass - a Washington D.C. attorney, contained a consumer letter and advice by Benny on how to deal with a contractor who goes bust on your project.

Entitled Steps to Take When Your Contractor Walks Away, the advice Benny gives is very good for anyone who finds themselves in the position of the homeowner who wrote.

The homeowner is fortunate to have a completed job; but faces liens on his property that may force him to pay again for materials and services for which he has already paid...And the law is not on his side in this matter.

Materials suppliers and subcontractors have the right to lien property for goods or services they have provided in good faith. If they have not been paid, they have rights encoded in contract law...as long as they properly filed their liens within the period allowed by law.

Ignorant home ownership is no excuse when it comes to lien law. Here's a primer on California's Mechanic's Lien Law.

The question is: How do you avoid this problem in the first place?

First: Realize that the current environment will see more than a few bankruptcies among remodeling contractors. Those who started business since 1995, never having seen a downturn and without financial reserves, are prime targets for financial difficulties now or in the near future.

All it takes is one job going bad to sink a contractor who hasn't squirreled away reserves and who has to allow his insurances and license to lapse for lack of funds.

If that job happened to be the one before your job, it is YOU who could suffer the consequences!

Second: Before you sign a contract for remodeling services, take advantage of your state's contractor licensing bureau, if there is one. Here in California it is the Contractor's State License Board, or CSLB, that tracks adherence to the laws that govern contracting.

On the CSLB web site, you can check the contractor's license status and history. ANY sign of noncompliance is a warning you should never ignore.

That includes paying Workman's Comp insurance for employees who will be working on your home. Many contractors skirt this requirement by claiming that they do all the work themselves. If this is truly the case then Workman's Comp is not required. But, the fact is, anyone working for a contractor who is injured working on your home can file against your home owner's insurance if they are not covered by Workman's Comp. Your insurer will not look kindly on such a situation.

The CSLB urges consumers to follow these tips when dealing with a building contractor:

• Hire only licensed contractors and ask to see the license.
• Verify the contractor's license by checking online at www.cslb.ca.gov.
• Don't rush into decisions and don't hire the first contractor who comes along.
• Don't pay more than 10 percent down or $1,000 — whichever is less.
• Don't pay cash, and don't let the payments get ahead of the work.
• Get three bids, check references, and get a written contract.
• Contact the CSLB if you have a complaint against a contractor.

The Contractors State License Board operates under the umbrella of the California Department of Consumer Affairs. The CSLB licenses and regulates California's 312,000 contractors, and investigates more than 20,000 complaints against contractors, annually. In Fiscal Year 2006-2007, the CSLB obtained nearly $45 million on ordered restitution for consumers.

Remember: Ignorance of the law is no excuse. The homeowner who wrote to Benny is in BIG trouble and had better have plenty of financial reserves. He is going to need them.

Peggy

Maanga Sadam (Mango Rice)

Come mango season, this is one dish that features in our menu regularly. This is ideal for lunch box too. Everyone in our family loves this. You can prepare the base mixture before hand and mix the cooked rice when required.

For preparing the base mix for the rice
Grated raw mango - 1 cup ( Select mangoes which are not very sour)

For grinding
Grated coconut - 2 tblspn
green chilly - 2 nos
Dry grind the coconut and chilly together and keep it aside.

Seasoning
Gingely oil - 2 tblspn
mustard seeds
chana dal - 1 tspn
red chilly - 2 broken
turmeric powder - 1/2 tspn
curry leaves - few

salt

Method

Take a skillet. Heat oil and do the seasonings. Add the grated mango and saute for few minutes,
till it is cooked. Make sure the grated mangoes retain the shape and not get mashed into a paste. The grated pieces gives a crunchiness while eating the rice.

Stir in the grounded coconut-chilly and mix well. Saute for a minute and remove from fire.
The base mix is ready.

Take 3 cups of cooked basmati rice and leave it to cool. Stir in the base mix to the rice and
carefully mix with a spatula with out mashing the rice.
Serve with roasted papad.

If the mangoes are too sour, add a tablespoon of grated jaggery along with the mango to saute. It will offset the sourness.
During my blogging break, Sunshinemom has given me a virtual bear hug and the official friendship tag. Thanks for the warm hug and the official title.

I pass the virtual hug to my fellow bloggers Sagari, Prema,Kalai

Sweet Corn Bread

Sweet corn bread, I thought this bread supposed to be added with some corn puree or corn flour but it isn't and you will hardly get lots of sweet corn at every bite of this bread. But, the texture and flavor is absolutely fantastic! I doubt that the corn had created kind of aroma in the dough through the fermentation and through the baking or may be not. No matter how, it is super soft and tender!

This bread soft from outside to inside, just like my friend advised "the bread supposed to be softer than the white bread!". It is so light and tender that you will like to have the next bite before shallow the first. As for me, I could just have it plain without any spread.


Method:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients then gradually add the wet ingredients by mixing with a flat beater at low speed until everything just combine.
2. Add in butter continue to mix for 1 or 2 minutes.
3. Change to a dough hook continues kneading for about 15 minutes at medium speed.
4. Take out the dough from the mixing bowl, slowly add in some sweet corn by hand then shape it into a smooth round dough (make sure the corn is dry before add into the dough).
5. Cover with cling film and let it proof for 90 minutes.
6. Knead the dough and punch out the gas (be careful not to broken the corn while kneading it, do it gently).
7. Use the hand to shape the dough in long rectangular shape then roll up like a swiss roll.
   Place the rolled dough in greased bread tin.
8. Spray with some water around the tin. Place it in the oven with door close, proof for 60 minutes.
   Take out the tin from the oven and preheat the oven at 190'C.
9. When the oven ready, bake the dough approximately 40 minutes or until golden brown, (I used a piece of aluminum foil to cover the top after 20 minutes of baking to prevent the top burning).
10. Take out the bread to cool down before slicing into pieces.Store leftover bread in airtight container without slicing it into pieces to let it stay fresh for the next serving.