We had signed a contract on Sunday (11/19) to get our house painted on the outside plus getting some other work done at the same time.

Work was to start in early Dec.

I recieved some bad news from my mother today and a bunch of other finacial headaces popped up today which could end up costing us thousands of $$$...needless to say, a paint job and work on the house is the last thing we need.

I read the contract for cancelling and it states the following:



Since the 22nd is tom. and the company address to send the Notice of Right to Cancel is down in Canoga Park about 800 miles away, hand delivering is out of the question. Will simply mailing it or using FedEx work as long as it is post marked before midnight of 11-22-2006???


thanks....

FedEx or a telegram will work as long as it can be delivered and signed for

by the owner or their agent, just in case make sure you can get a copy of

the signed receipt.

Sorry to hear about the troubles.

Hey Mike,

Sorry to hear about that.....how about someone down in that area, San Fernando Valley or LA area that you know, fax the notice and have the S. Calif person hand deliever it for ya....

I think that's the best way...if not, telegram?

j

Did you just call and ask them to cancel? They might not be miffed about it, particularly with how busy contractors are lately. Never hurts.

They'll have less recourse as well if they are not licensed contractors in the Golden State.

http://www.cslb.ca.gov/consumers/default.asp

(I always refer friends to this site when dealing with contractors)

I read post marked as well.

Call, Fax, and mail it tomorrow. Im sure one of those 3 will get their attention to cancel the work.

I vote for a phone call and a fax. They'll tell you what you need to know over the phone, I would think.

The options are fairly clear:

1) If you cancel by mail or telegram, it must be SENT no later than midnight 11-22-06. I'd take "sent" at face value, i.e. postmarked by that time. So I'd mail the letter from the post office, where it will get postmarked immediately. I'd mail it in some way where you can get a time stamped receipt, and possibly a delivery receipt. I don't think I'd mail it "return receipt requested." That's not required by the language, and if you do that, what if they don't sign for it?

I don't even know if people send or receive telegrams anymore these days, so that's probably not a way to go.

2) I would also fax it to their fax number, if they have given you one.

3) After doing 1 and 2, I'd call them to confirm they got the fax, and let them know you also mailed it. I'd also verbally tell them you need to cancel. I'd make a note of the name of the person I spoke with, and the date and time.

4) Because I'm overly cautious with these things, I'd then send by mail and fax a letter confirming the conversation, and confirming they received the cancellation fax.

If you mail it "Proof of Delivery" costs $0.55 and is date stamped when it's rung thru the register

I'm a contractor and I never heard of anyone chasing after their customers for canceling a contract. I would think a phone call and fax would suffice. However, a painting contractor that is based in Canoga Park and does work in Antioch may play by different rules. If you need it hand delivered call me and I'll give you my fax number. Andy Ritter (818) 266-8610

FYI, telegrams as we know them no longer exist. Western Union ceased the service January 31st of this year, causing a moderate fuss in the news media. There are some alternative services listed in Google. The Cap'n

call em, ask them if you can fax your cancelation (and have them fax a signed confirmantion of the cancelling in return)
that should have you covered

sorry to hear about your bad luck...

thanks all.....

I ended up talking to a rep today and I was able to fax the contract in...

the owner of the company called and was very understanding...


as for the family thing....family member dying, no life insurance, no savings...we are the only members of the family that has decent jobs and money saved for emergancies...you can guess who'll be paying for everything....sorry if I sound bitter, just annoyed that some people don't plan for the future......hopefully others will learn from this....

Bummer Mike....

I know the feeling. Most people only live for today and paycheck to paycheck They drive a new car and live in a big house and when something happens, they think they got screwed....go figure.

Glad the contractor worked with you. I have found that calling someone, explaining the situation and promisiong they will get the next job usually works......Good Luck