I’ve been in the house renovation business for years, and I pride myself on quality work and fair pricing. So when my brother-in-law, Mark, asked me to help finish his basement, I agreed—even though we weren’t that close. He wanted to add a couple of rooms, a bathroom, a kitchenette, and a wired-up family room. I gave him a heavily discounted quote of $32,000, materials included. For context, just the bathroom alone would normally cost around $15,000.
Mark seemed thrilled with the price. “We’re like real brothers now that you’ve married my sister,” he said, clapping me on the back. I should’ve taken that as a red flag.
The project took months of hard work. His basement wasn’t prepped for a bathroom, so we had to redo plumbing, install ventilation, and run all new electrical wiring. I even upgraded the materials—better tiles, fixtures, and countertops—thinking it would be a great way to help family.
But when the work was done, Mark suddenly had every excuse not to pay. “I’ll pay you after my tax refund comes in.” “We’re saving for the kids’ school fees.” “Come on, would you ask your real brother for money?”
At first, I tried being patient. I didn’t want to stir up tension in the family, especially since my wife adored her brother. But after months of dodged calls and ignored messages, it became clear he had no intention of paying. I covered the materials and paid my crew out of pocket—money I couldn’t afford to lose.
Two years passed, and I let the issue go, knowing I wouldn’t see a dime. Then, last week, my phone buzzed. It was Mark, and he sounded furious.
“What have you done?!” he screamed. “Why can’t I sell my house?!”
Confused, I asked what he was talking about.
Mark explained that he’d put his house on the market, expecting to make a nice profit, but during the inspection, the buyer’s contractor found an issue. It turns out the permit for the basement renovation had never been filed.
“I assumed you handled all the permits!” Mark accused.
I almost laughed. “Mark, I told you at the start of the project that permits were your responsibility as the homeowner. I even reminded you multiple times to file for them. Don’t you remember?”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“Well,” he finally muttered, “what do I do now? The buyer says the basement is illegal, and I’ll have to rip everything out or pay thousands in fines to fix it.”
I sighed, almost feeling bad for him—*almost*. “You’re going to need to hire someone to sort it out. And permits and inspections aren’t cheap, especially for work that’s already done.”
“But you did the work!” he protested.
“Yes,” I said firmly, “and I gave you a professional quote that included everything—except permits. You refused to pay, so now you’re dealing with the consequences.”
Mark grumbled and hung up, but word quickly spread through the family. When my wife found out, she confronted her brother about the unpaid work. Under pressure from everyone, Mark finally admitted what had happened, and his reputation took a hit.
In the end, he had to shell out nearly $20,000 to fix the permit situation and get everything approved. On top of that, he never made the profit he expected from selling the house—most of it went to cover the fines and retroactive permits.
Karma works in mysterious ways, and in this case, it came with a hefty price tag. As for me, I’ve moved on, but I’ve learned a valuable lesson: family discounts are fine, but only when there’s mutual respect—and payment up front.
