You have been working hard to put together your home the way you want it to look. You even hired a contractor to help with construction. You have a great contract, and you were happy with how you felt it protected you.
What you didn’t expect was how many issues there would be throughout the construction process. It’s taking longer than expected and has been frustrating to deal with. You feel like you’ve been patient, and you’ve tried to be fair. Now, you want the construction to stop and to hire someone else to finish it, because you feel like the contractor is just not doing what they said they would.
Before you throw away all that has been done, consider using mediation
Mediation is a good way to resolve disputes, even if it is just to find a way to end a contract and to determine what, if anything, you owe to a contractor for their work. You may be dissatisfied with the level of work they completed or unhappy with a drawn-out timeline. Maybe you don’t like that they’ve hired a third party to assist when you didn’t approve them. Whatever the issue is, you need to think about how you can resolve that conflict.
With a mediator, you and the other party can sit down to talk. The mediator will help guide the conversation. They’ll be able to keep you both on track, so that the lines of communication remain open rather than turning into a dispute where nothing can be resolved.
Mediation has many advantages, but the fact that the third party is there to weigh in with the facts about how the law could affect your case or about what might happen if you go to court, is one of the best things mediation offers. It’s a fair and neutral process, and both parties have a chance to talk through what they believe is happening and what they’d like to see happen to resolve the conflict.
Mediation does save time and money compared to going to trial or litigating a case. You can still choose to have your attorney with you to represent you, too, which is helpful if you and the other party reach an agreement. If your attorney is present, they can simply draw up the appropriate documents and have them ready to be signed shortly thereafter.
Mediation could be the right option for you. It’s effective, but only if both parties can agree to the sessions.