Landscaper did damage

[supermet]

I live in NJ. I contacted a landscaper to come in to give me an estimate on my yard. When I agreed to have him do yard clean up, remove 2 trees and replace the soil he came in, removed 20 tons of soil, damaged a half dozen trees and took down 8 trees. Now I have root damage to my trees and a flooded yard. Do I have any legal recourse?

 

[HomeGuru]

Yes and I hope the scaper was licensed and you had signed a written contract.

 

[supermet]

The landscaper is licensed but never gave me a written contract. I contacted the state about this and they said, landscaping which is considered a form of home improvement must have a written contract by the contractor if the amount exceeds $200.00 in work. I never recieved any written estimate or contract in writing. On top if it, the landscaper is now demanding his full payment for the damage he did. I called in another landscaper who gave me a written estimate for work that the first landscaper is billing me for.

 

[HomeGuru]

Ok, make him eat dirt.