When William Shelton’s carpet business was swept away due to a fire, he got a first-hand, crash course in restoring the building to its original state. His friends and family could not believe how beautiful it was once it was done, and through their encouragement, William got into the restoration business. His son, Lee Shelton, came alongside him, and at the age of 16, Lee learned everything from his father about clean up, including water and flood damage, fire damage, earthquake damage, and the like. Lee soon took over his dad’s business, and his reputation proceeded him in the community of Davis, California.

On April 4, Mr. Lee Shelton received a phone call from a woman in Waitsburg Washington requesting his services. She introduced herself as Mrs. Kim Hawkins. She told Mr. Shelton that she had recently been an unwitting victim of flooding in the basement of her home, as a levee on the Touchet River broke just outside of her small town. Her basement was a second living space that had been converted in 2015. She has friends and family in Davis California, and although it is a distance, Mr. Shelton was highly praised and recommended to Mrs. Hawkins. (Since Mrs. Hawkins is well-to-do, and lives in an awfully expensive home, she considered their endorsement, and called Mr. Shelton.) In the conversation between Mr. Shelton and Mrs. Hawkins, they agreed upon the date of April 10^th to start the work of restoration of the basement. Mr. Shelton holds that he did discuss his fee with her, and the cost of the overall trip. Since it was a 12-hour drive from Davis to Waitsburg, Mr. Shelton holds that it was discussed in the conversation that Mr. Shelton would drive up from his home on the evening of April 8th, and start work on April 10^th to:

• Remove damaged components: Any unsafe components that are not able to be restored are removed from the home.
• Removing flooring: To prevent the collection of rot, mold, and other harmful elements and remove any floor coverings that could promote an unhealthy or unsafe environment.
• Evaluating structural framing: Such as framing and subfloor material, and either remove or bring them up to safety standards.
• Treating for odor and contamination: with odor counteractants that ensure no microbial contamination or mildew is present.
• Removing or restoring the HVAC system: To ensure no harmful particles will spread throughout the air and cause future health problems.
  • https://www.restoration1.com/our-services/fire-smoke-damage/ (Links to an external site.)
• Install the carpet pad and new carpet and rebuilding any structural area due to water damage.

Mr. Shelton discussed the above listing with Mrs. Hawkins in detail and took down the measurements of the basement. Mrs. Hawkins also sent photos of the damage and requested that Mr. Shelton purchase carpeting and padding that would replace the damaged flooring. All these particulars were discussed over the phone before the conversation ends. Mr. Shelton holds that he emphasized the fact that because this was a water damage situation, the entire area would have to be treated and water damage to the structure would need to be repaired or removed if necessary, and that was included in the overall estimated cost of the restoration, which is why the work would be very expensive. However, only a verbal agreement was struck between Mr. Shelton and Mrs. Kim Hawkins.

On April 5, Mr. Shelton purchased the following items from the following stores:

• 600 sp. ft. basement padding @ $1,400 ((Carpet All-In-One)
• 600 sq. ft. basement (new) carpet @ $2,400. (Carpet All-In-One)
• 3 Gallons of Odorize 210 Concentrate, Fresh Scent @ 78.25 each plus tax (7.25) = $95.26 (Lowes)
• 4 Boxes - Grip-Rite 1-lb-Gauge 1.25-in Bright Steel Underlayment Nails (Links to an external site.) @ $4.98 each = $19.92 (Lowes)

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On April 8^th, at 10:00 pm after work that day, Mr. Shelton pulled his truck out of his driveway with all his personal installation equipment and the materials he had purchased for the job and headed for Waitsburg, Washington.

On April 9th, at 10:30 pm, the night before the appointment, Mrs. Hawkins called Mr. Shelton on his iPhone and canceled the job. Mr. Shelton had already driven the 772 miles to Waitsburg, Washington, and had paid for his hotel for the week, which was non-refundable, given the timeframe of the reservation was past the grace period for cancellation by the hotel. Mr. Shelton lost a total of $3,500 in lost revenue, travel/gas, food, and hotel expenses, (to include the hotel and food expenses from April 9th), plus $3,915.18 in material purchases, for a total of $7415.18.

Mrs. Hawkins has denied that in fact there was any verbal agreement between them, and will not return Mr. Shelton's phone calls in order to come to some type of resolution. Mr. Shelton now wants to take Mrs. Hawkins to small claims court but is unsure as to which court he should make the claim, given that Mrs. Hawkins lives in Waitsburg, Washington, he is unsure of the jurisdiction laws. There are also other considerations as well and he is unsure as to what to do at this point.

Question:

1. Because this was a verbal agreement between Mr. Shelton and Ms. Hawkins, Mr. Shelton will need to prove his case. Make a list of the evidence that Mr. Shelton needs to bring with him to small claims court to establish his case and explain why each piece of evidence listed is relevant to proving the case. (Please bullet them and provide an explanation next to each item.)