It can feel sometimes like there are more bad contractors than good ones. There are so many stories about people being swindled, or things falling apart, timelines being extended by months or even years.

Which is probably why everyone loves stories like this one, where a contractor (and a bank, for bonus) gets what’s coming to them.

OP’s parents managed to scrape together enough money to have a new house built, and they were super excited about it. They had to take out a mortgage and this was the 70s, so the bank was paying the contractor directly.

In 1973, my parents had enough money to build a little ranch house in the country.

The small bank in town approved the mortgage & the bank signed a contract to give “Bob” the money to build the house.

The contractor, though, had over-extended himself. He sent his underlings to do the building, but none of the appeared to actually know how to do that.

Bob, as it turns out, was overbooking himself all over town, leaving his clueless minions to do the actual work. The build took longer and longer, with more and more work having to be ripped out and redone.

We’re not talking about using the wrong color paint or nailing up some wonky trim, here. The architect forgot to fully erase a line on the blueprints & the framers built a wall through the bathtub.

My mother was told “Don’t put anything heavy in the kitchen cabinets” bc they were attached to the drywall – not the studs – using a few roofing nails through the back of each cabinet.

The garage door opening was framed into the living room instead of towards the driveway. And so on.

When the bank came with the final paperwork, OP’s parents refused to sign it because so much work needed to be redone. The bank shrugged and said they had to sign it or they would foreclose.

When the bank’s representative showed up for the final inspection, my parents met him in the front yard & refused to sign off on Bob’s work. Then representative became angry, as the bank had paid Bob a lot of money.

He strode to the front door & pulled on the doorknob, whereupon the entire door – casing included – fell on him. It had simply been wedged (not nailed) into place.

The bank called Bob, who finally showed up to supervise the work himself. The only problem was that Bob wasn’t any better at building a house than his minions were. My parents still refused to sign off on the house.

My mother was a SAHM in a nasty rental with two tiny children while my dad was working two jobs while this was going on. Throughout the entire process, the bank & Bob treated them very poorly, bullying my mom & lying to my dad. What should have been an exciting time for my parents was ruined. My mom cried a lot. My dad got depressed.

Finally, the bank threatened my parents with foreclosure & Bob threatened to sue my parents for breach of contract bc the bank refused to pay him any more money.

So, OP’s parents went to a lawyer. At first he didn’t seem very hopeful, but all of a sudden, he saw a document that made him smile.

So my exhausted parents went to an attorney & gave him the rundown. Plumbing, electrical, tiling issues – the whole sorry mess. My parents were scared. All they had was their small downpayment savings, so if this became a lengthy court battle the bank & Bob would win.

The attorney, “Tom”, was kind, but my dad said he could tell that he and Mom were doomed from Tom’s facial expressions as he sorted through the paperwork. Then, abruptly, Tom smiled. “Let’s get everyone together for a meeting,” he told my parents. “Tomorrow.”

It turned out OP’s parents might not have owned the house just yet, but they did own the land – and so the attorney told them to remove the house.

So my parents, Tom, the bank’s representative, the bank’s attorney, Bob, & Bob’s attorney met at the bank.

Tom didn’t give anyone else time to begin. He said, “Well, my clients have decided that they no longer want this house. Please remove it.”

Everyone else start to laugh. “Remove it? Have you lost your mind?”

Tom, in a sweeping, theatrical gesture, placed a deed on the table.

“My clients own the land the house is sitting on outright. They no longer want the house. Get the house off my clients’ land.”

After some back and forth (and realizing OP’s parents could make that request if they wanted) the house got fixed and the bank got their paperwork signed.

Bob’s attorney stared at the deed, & then turned & stared at Bob. “You built a house on land YOU DON’T OWN?” Bob nodded.

The bank’s attorney started yelling at the bank’s representative. “YOU DIDN’T FINANCE THE LAND THE HOUSE IS ON?” The representative stammered, “Uh…no…?”

Tom said firmly, “As I said, gentlemen, you’re trespassing on my clients’ land. I expect the house to be removed & the land returned to its original state, AT ONCE.”

My Dad said he’ll remember the blank looks everyone on the other side of the table passed to one another for his whole life. Sure, the bank could foreclose…on a house that wouldn’t exist by the end of the week, with no way to recoup the money. They didn’t even own the land it was on.

Bob was out the 50% he’d paid out of pocket, plus he was on the hook for tearing down the house & removing it. On top of that, the bank would undoubtedly want him to repay the initial 50% they’d given him.

Could they have gone after my parents? Sure. A foreclosure would have meant bad credit for my parents moving forward. They might lose their down payment.

But to sign off on the house in its condition at that time would have meant thousands and thousands of dollars in cash to replace/repair everything from the roof to the basement before the house could be safely lived in.

The bank knew my parents didn’t have that kind of money; they’re the ones who approved the mortgage!

Suddenly, my parents were good people, it was all SUCH a misunderstanding, & the bank & Bob couldn’t do enough for them! The house was brought in line with the original blueprints & specifications immediately, at no extra cost to my parents (but at considerable cost to Bob).

My parents signed the mortgage. Bob got the rest of his money (& just about broke even on the build). The bank’s representative was fired.

And Tom, attorney extraordinaire, got a stinging tale of triumph to recall to fellow attorneys for the rest of his life!

I bet Reddit is just going to go to town with this one!

Everyone loved the truly satisfying ending.

They agree that things were different back then.

Banking wasn’t the same, either.

They are happy OP’s parents didn’t end up paying for shoddy work after everything else.

I hope they were happy in that house for a long, long time.

They would have to be to make it all worth it!