Accident on 80Contractor Do a Bad Job? Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Help
Shoddy craftsmanship is one of the biggest concerns people have when they search for contractors to do repairs or upgrades to their home. The person you hire should be reliable and you should be able to rely on the fact that you paid them money to do a good job. Unfortunately, that is not always how it goes. When you are the victim of a bad construction job, what can you do? Well, Texas answered that question by passing the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
The Deceptive Trade Practices Act is a consumer protection law that holds people and businesses accountable for using false or deceptive trade practices in the State of Texas. Construction work typically and most squarely falls under the DTPA through the breach of express or implied warranty claims. An express warranty is one that is included in the contract with the contractor when you signed it, and an implied warranty is one that is implied by law, such as the implied warranty of good and workmanlike manner.
Warranties are a great tool for attorneys who wish to use the DTPA and are standard tools in any DTPA suit against a contractor. These implied warranties fit very nicely next to the standard breach of contract claims that you will want to bring. They fit nicely because the difference between a breach of contract and a breach of warranty, which are separate causes of action, but the warranty usually springs into play as a result of the contractor breaking some part of the agreement that produces shoddy workmanship or a finished product that is different from what was explicitly agreed upon. In order to determine which warranties come into play, we must look at the contract you signed (if you signed one).
