Last summer, a local roofing company, did a job for my extended family. They proceeded on the job, after submitting a signed contract and had appropriate city permits filed.
Half of the contract amount was paid before the start of the job and the agreement was to pay the balance upon completion and passing inspection.
End of July, 2009 the final payment was made and contractor sent an invoice dated 7/31/2009 showing zero (0) balance and a large stamped text PAID (stamped sideways) over the body of the invoice.
Now fast forward to January 27, 2010 as contractor sends a new Certified US Mail with another invoice claiming "Serious Past Due Account" and they show a balance of few hundred on this invoice which is also dated 7/31/2009. This new invoice shows a new item being added to the original invoice with the resulting new balance.
This latest invoice was never presented to the family and has never surfaced until now, 7 months later.
(1) What makes the contractors new bill legitimate over the previous Zero Balance invoice? (2) Why did it take 7 months to present this new invoice?