My father had given me a piece of land behind a large well-built house which he owned and I had decided to build a house on the land. Trying to decide the type of house I wanted to build, I searched for pictures of houses in a magazine, the kind published by Realtors trying to sell houses. I found a picture of a beautiful three-story house which I liked.

Soon thereafter, I spoke with a woman who was a contractor, who said she could have the house built for me. Without even a written contract we agreed that she would build the house for $40,000.

Construction began. A man (probably in his early 30s) began working on the house, and two days later the house was finished.

I went to look at the house and I walked through it. The house didn't appear to be level. When I shut the doors, I noticed large cracks around them. I walked into the kitchen and saw one of the cupboard drawers was chopped off. Screws were only half-way tightened in various places all over the house. In sum, the house was a complete mess.

As I toured the house, I noticed a fellow who resembled Beasley (an old schoolmate from high school) working there. I couldn't remember his first name, but I asked if his last name was Beasley and he said it was. He looked as if he were in his early 30s. Exasperated, I finally walked out of the house and headed for my father's house.

When I reached my father's house, I found my mother and began explaining to her my problem with the house. I then found my father, who had black hair and was thin; he looked as if he were probably in his late 30s and he seemed strong and robust. I told him my problem with the new house and I asked his advice. The whole affair was turning out to be a disaster; I didn't know exactly what to do.

My father and I looked out back toward the house which I had had built. From my father's house, my house didn't look bad. It was a red brick house, and from a distance the defects couldn't be seen. But my father was surprised to see that a house had suddenly appeared out back, and he became angry at me because I had had the house built without first asking him. Seeing him so angry, I also became angry; I stormed out of his house and headed back for my house.

I knew my mother would talk to my father, and sure enough, in a short while, my father came over to my house to look at it. I could see him outside walking around, examining the house. He soon walked inside and looked around at the interior. He could also obviously see what a disaster it was. I told him I hadn't yet paid a penny for the house. To myself I was thinking that I wasn't going to pay for this house, and that I would probably sue the people who had built it. I thought the house, in its present condition, was worth perhaps $20,000.

Inside, the house wasn't three stories, as I had planned, but only one story. The house looked as if it contained only one big white room. One room was all I saw.

Beasley (still inside) mentioned to me that he recognized this house. He told me this house had been moved from somewhere else. When I asked him if he knew the address, he said the address was one hundred something. Only now did I notice a strange odor in the house, an odor which I had smelled before in old houses. Now I realized I smelled the odor because this wasn't a new house, but an old house which had been moved there. I angrily thought this wasn't what I had contracted for. Beasley seemed quite helpful, and I had the feeling he would probably testify in my behalf if we ended up going to court over the matter.

A woman friend of mine walked in and she also began looking at the house. With the woman listening, I told my father I had never signed a contract for the construction of the house because I had thought it would be to my advantage not to have a signed contract. Both my father and the woman laughed at this. The woman seemed to think it silly that I didn't have a contract. But I still thought not having a written contract would work to my advantage. Without a written contract, getting out of this mess would be easier.

As it now stood, I needed to find a second contractor to come to the house, look at all the problems, take pictures of the problems and make a list. That way I would have a record of everything wrong with the house. Then I would be prepared to face the builders of the house.

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