Maryland laws with binding contracts? (lawyer, legal, drywall)

[Njrover0216]

I hired a worker to come frame and drywall my basement. He typed up a contract that stated he would get paid x amount of dollars after he finished the frame work and x amount after he finished the drywalling. He did 95% of the frame work, I paid him, thinking he was going to finish, and he didn't. He never shows up on time, and sometimes goes days without coming. My husband did the insulation himself and is going to find a buddy to help do the drywall. My question is are we responsible for paying him for the drywall because we hired him for it. Keep in mind he didnt do the drywall or even start it. Out of the 8 days he has worked for us, he has worked a total of 19 hours...and 12 of them were the first two days he started! I now want to fire him and break my contract with him. Every time we give him money he doesnt show back up the next day, I think he is on drugs. Legally I have paid him for more then what he was suppose to get, because he didnt finish the frame. So can we tell him we are going to have someone else do the drywall instead of having him?

[trying2moveup]

well, i'm not a lawyer but from reading your post you said that he would get x amount of $ after the framing, and then x amount after the drywall - if he didn't do any of the drywall then it seems to me (again, not providing legal advice here) that he doesn't get squat. Hopefully you took some dated pictures of what he did prior to doing anything else to the area, that would just be a helpful bonus if you end up getting some legal woes out of this.

Seems to me that he wouldn't be able to provide that he DID the drywall, if he should claim that, so you're o.k.

Good support for always checking references - the 5 most recent jobs. If they won't provide that - tell them to take a hike!

[Njrover0216]

Thanks for the good advice. My husband and a friend from his job are going to hang the drywall, I will make sure to tell my husband to take pics of the two of them hanging the drywall to prove that we did it.You know he gave me a resume with workers on it and dates but did not provide phone numbers, that is where I made the mistake. I was trying to be nice and help him out because he said he was laid off and out of work. I guess lesson is learned. Now I just have to wait for him to finally contact us, and tell him to come get his tools and that his work is no longer needed.

[FrankLaw]

You only need to worry about your legal standing if the other side is going to sue you. It sounds like this guy doesn't have his **** together enough to wipe his nose, let alone sue you.