Hello All, 

Renovating my first property and I made a rookie mistake, a major one--I found out that my first contractor (who came recommended) is unlicensed in California!!!

I am two weeks into redoing several of the original contractor's mistakes with a LICENSED contractor, referred by several homeowners/businesses. I have surpassed my budget, but alas, things are moving in the right direction and all the wrongs are being rectified. 

I have spent a few hours perusing the CA State License Board website for FAQs or info on what to do when I've got the original unlicensed contractor pestering me via text for his final payment. Final payment for a job that was not fully completed, certainly not to my standard, no walk-through was ever done, and at this point, I am a bit scared that this person might physically confront me at the property seeking payment. 

The property locks have been changed. I have photo, text, and detailed documentation of everything done incorrectly and incompletely, which my attorney states is plenty. But this person will just not go away! 

When I crunch the numbers regarding what has to be/has been redone, the 20 days over the agreed-upon finish date this person went over--he actually owes me money! I'm just completely dodging his texts/calls at this point until I have all my photos printed and documentation completely in order. This person was paid 2/3 of the entire job, yes, I paid 1/3 cash up front rather than the 10% that I am seeing on the license board website. And I don't want anything from this person: not a dime, no repair, I just want to cut ties completely. I considered just paying him the final amount to get him out of my hair, but the only thing that stopped me is the fact that I am spending $12k to finish the entire job + clean up the original person's mess. 

I also read somewhere online that it would actually be illegal for me to pay the final installment to the original person now that I know he is unlicensed. 

I made a huge rookie costly mistake. Has anyone done anything this stupid? And what do you recommend I do? Get my attorney involved? File a formal complaint with the board (seems like this would even potentially implicate me for being so dumb in the first place)? Any websites of information recs? 

Thanks in advance! 

An unlicensed contractor cannot charge more than $500. You've paid more than enough. Sorry you went through this..

Report him to the board. That is the first step. 

You might send him a formal certified letter explaining your position. Give him two choices:

1.) Leave me alone and I'll forget I've ever met you.

2.) Agree to litigate in small claims with the stipulation that if you get a recovery judgement you will have to right to post negative reviews of your experience.

You need to communicate with him, preferably in writing so it doesn't get into an emotional argument. Let him know the problem and that you're not able to pay him for the work. Hope it goes away. If not, you may need to hire an attorney.

Originally posted by @Mark Pedroza :

An unlicensed contractor cannot charge more than $500. You've paid more than enough. Sorry you went through this..

Good morning Mark. Thank you for confirming this. I also saw on the state licensing board that an unlicensed contractor is liable for fines up to $5k and can even be given jail time. I certainly don’t want to take things to that level, but while I’ve been a fool, the law is still slightly in my favor. Heading to Costco early this morning to print photos to share with the original contractor in hopes that it will make him see the light. Thanks for posting!

Originally posted by @Mary M. :

Report him to the board. That is the first step. 

 Absolutely! What’s crazy is my neighbor two doors down recommended this person and even showed me his work, however he did not mention the non-license. Again my mistake, especially when I was just completely desperate to get someone started. I won’t mention a word to my neighbor about how I’ve had to dip into my personal savings to fix this mess, or, how his contractor has basically become like a crazy ex texting me incessantly. Thanks again for your rec!

Originally posted by @Flash Alexander:

You might send him a formal certified letter explaining your position. Give him two choices:

1.) Leave me alone and I'll forget I've ever met you.

2.) Agree to litigate in small claims with the stipulation that if you get a recovery judgement you will have to right to post negative reviews of your experience.

 Thank you for your suggestions. Question: when you mention potentially having the right to post negative reviews, where exactly do you mean? Online? Do unlicensed contractors care about negative reviews? 

Originally posted by @Nathan G. :

You need to communicate with him, preferably in writing so it doesn't get into an emotional argument. Let him know the problem and that you're not able to pay him for the work. Hope it goes away. If not, you may need to hire an attorney.

Thank you Nathan. This is absolutely my course of action. I think I will send this person a copy via certified mail, text him a copy and of course, make one for myself, but of course, make sure my attorney sees it first.

Hopefully this will be enough! Thanks again, I appreciate it.

Do not talk to this guy! Call the contractor board, today! Tell them what is happening and file a complaint. One of the main jobs of the board is to deal with issues like this 

https://www.dca.ca.gov/consume...

@Stephanie Moran

Block his number.

Then do nothing.

@Max T. that will not solve anything. OP needs to file a complaint which hopefully will wipe out the debt and also help her get her money back 

@Mary M.

OP not trying to get money back.

OP doesn’t want to file a complaint. Not worth the trouble.

OP wants to move on.

If this guy is a stalker type, blocking him will only make her not see him. It wont stop his actions. 

The way to stop this kind of person is to get the authorities involved. Including possibly filing a restraining order.

OP can ignore my comments, but others reading this thread will have the info available to them in case they ever find themselves in a similar situation  

@Stephanie Moran

What things needed to be corrected by the new contractor? What things were left undone?

I wouldn't show him all the documentation and photos right now. If he takes you to court, that's like sitting down to a game of poker where the other person has seen your cards. Just give him a list of the things he failed to do, or the things that he did wrong that you had to have redone and give him a number that you think he owes you.

Additionally in the letter, include a clause advising him that he is unwelcome to ever return to that or any other property owned by you. (This will help if he ever shows up at the house as you can prove he has been previously advised regarding 602(l) of the penal code (trespass).

Also, if you ever get to court, I'm guessing his claim will be thrown out immediately because he is unlicensed and you will get a chance at a counter claim.

Make sure you are reasonable in what you calculate your damages at. 20 days is not an unusual delay for any type of construction work and if your contract with him didn't have liquidated damages listed, I doubt you can get reimbursed on a per day basis.

What was the total original contract amount?

If this was my project I would do one of two things...

1. Tell him I have been advised by my lawyer not to talk to you. Please call my lawyer and he can discuss how much you owe me for violation of contracting laws in California. 

or, 

2. I have paid you x dollars and am not happy with your work. I looked into the licensing requirements you have in California and have found out your not a licensed contractor.  I want one of two things, a check from you to reimburse me for the amount that you can legally charge, or to never hear from you again. 

I would probably do the first option...especially since you do not want to break the law, and you are okay if he runs away. 

Or, he  might have a pal who is a licensed contractor who is willing to use his license number to make the deal legal, but then you do not like his work...you need to be working closely with your lawyer on this .. the laws in California are difficult..

Of course, I would check with my lawyer before doing either option. 

Hope this helps.. 

Originally posted by @Mary M. :

Do not talk to this guy! Call the contractor board, today! Tell them what is happening and file a complaint. One of the main jobs of the board is to deal with issues like this 

https://www.dca.ca.gov/consume...

Thank you, Mary🙏🏽

Originally posted by @Max T. :

@Stephanie Moran

Block his number.

Then do nothing.

 Hey there Max! Boy, I’d love to block this guy, but so far I’ve just put him on DO NOT DISTURB and let him rant away. It’s only been 8 days since all of this transpired, and he left me alone for 4 days, but last night the “are you paying me this wknd” texts started up. 

@Stephanie Moran Not to worry many investors have made worse mistakes. Try not to beat yourself up too much. 

In this situation, the best thing to do is to face the situation head-on and not to dodge text messages. 

Most of these guys may not even have email addresses, but if he does, then send him a strong-worded letter and tell him straight: you are not paying him a penny!

Remind him that you had to spend more money to fix his mess and that you are in talks with lawyers and you do not want to go the court route, but you are very equipped with photos and documents. His choice, you guys path ways OR you do it the hard way of going to court. 

You could send a text as well. 

This should do the trick. It's all part of the story! REI is fascinating...!

Originally posted by @Mary M. :

@Max T. that will not solve anything. OP needs to file a complaint which hopefully will wipe out the debt and also help her get her money back 

 It’s probably silly to not want to fight for the money I lost because some of the work did get done, albeit sloppily. I really don’t feel bad about the final payment because this guy got over 7k for a half-assed job. He can keep it, but I just think he has some balls to demand more. If it were me, I’d quietly bow out with my tail between my legs and disappear. He seems to lack the brain cells that this could get really bad for him. 

Originally posted by @Mary M. :

If this guy is a stalker type, blocking him will only make her not see him. It wont stop his actions. 

The way to stop this kind of person is to get the authorities involved. Including possibly filing a restraining order.

OP can ignore my comments, but others reading this thread will have the info available to them in case they ever find themselves in a similar situation  

 

Mary, I very much appreciate your words and the severity of your suggestions, they do not go unnoticed! I’ve got the guy on DO NOT DISTURB and I’ve not replied to any of his texts. In the 8ish days since he left the job, he left me alone for 4 of them, which is good. 

My new licensed contractor are onsite for the rest of the week and his workers know the locks have been changed, which they were going to be changed anyway for the property. However, if the original contractor were to show up, I would call the police, non-emergency. And I would absolutely consider a restraining order since sometimes I am there alone. Luckily through the end of the week there will be workers and family members onsite. You simply cannot trust anyone anymore, and I just do not take any of this, ie. the demands, crazy texts lightly. And when I say crazy texts, it’s really just one-word texts asking for money, or: “lady.when.you.contract.someone.you.pay.them.when.are.you.paying.me.im.leaving.town.ok.pay.me.saturday.ok” type of thing. Ridiculous lol

Originally posted by @Todd Rasmussen :

@Stephanie Moran

What things needed to be corrected by the new contractor? What things were left undone?

I wouldn't show him all the documentation and photos right now. If he takes you to court, that's like sitting down to a game of poker where the other person has seen your cards. Just give him a list of the things he failed to do, or the things that he did wrong that you had to have redone and give him a number that you think he owes you.

Additionally in the letter, include a clause advising him that he is unwelcome to ever return to that or any other property owned by you. (This will help if he ever shows up at the house as you can prove he has been previously advised regarding 602(l) of the penal code (trespass).

Also, if you ever get to court, I'm guessing his claim will be thrown out immediately because he is unlicensed and you will get a chance at a counter claim.

Make sure you are reasonable in what you calculate your damages at. 20 days is not an unusual delay for any type of construction work and if your contract with him didn't have liquidated damages listed, I doubt you can get reimbursed on a per day basis.

What was the total original contract amount?

 Hi Todd, I appreciate your time in listing out your suggestions, including the PC for trespassing. 

The original contract was for $10,000. Plus, a HD giftcard with $2,000 for materials. I purchased all the large items: windows, flooring, appliances. He was paid 1/3 cash before beginning, plus the gift card for expenses. The major jobs were itemized on the contract and it was noted that all the miscellaneous details would be included. For example, the first major job was painting the entire interior for $3,000. It took over 3 wks plus it had to get redone because he didn’t sand the walls the first time. So 5-gallons of paint turned into 10-gallons. But, the job was done 90% satisfactorily, which that first payment covered. 

Then there is the deck, Itemized at $2,200, has been paid because by the time the interior paint was done, I gave him a CC for another $3,333. According to him the deck only needed some band-o/caulking, and patching up any holes in wood, plus paint. He didn’t fix more than 8ft of about 200sq ft of deck. And he used a spray gun to paint it and asked me to purchase 10-gallons of paint because the $2,000 gift card had run out. The paint job was a total mess, there is paint sprayed over the siding of both adjacent houses, and then back side wasn’t painted. The cost to fix everything he didn’t do plus what he didn’t even know to fix because he isn’t licensed, is $4,000, and is being worked on as I type this. 

we signed a start date of 09/10/19 and an end date of 10/10/19, he left the job or stated it was complete on 10/29 and 10/30, respectively. 

So all in all, he wants the third installment which would be $3,333. Pricing all the mistakes, everything that is going to be redone, including the flooring which he messed up and still worked on after I told him not to touch it anymore—he ended up deciding to go out with a bang and stained my original wood floors with red oak. Plus we did a little addition of $75/day for the 20 days he went over since this property is meant to be rented out. 

Per the neighbor who is a recluse, he’d show up alone everyday at 10am, 11am, sometimes noon, sometimes not at all, and while we didn’t set an agreed daily schedule, I’m sure his lax daily schedule contributed to going over by 20 days. 

thanks again for your input, just typing all this out is really stress-relieving! 

@Stephanie Moran Love your line "basically the contractor has become like a crazy ex"! You are getting great advise. All the best! BTW most of us have made bigger rookie blunders, so don't fret.

Originally posted by @Stephanie Moran :

Originally posted by @Todd Rasmussen:

@Stephanie Moran

What things needed to be corrected by the new contractor? What things were left undone?

I wouldn't show him all the documentation and photos right now. If he takes you to court, that's like sitting down to a game of poker where the other person has seen your cards. Just give him a list of the things he failed to do, or the things that he did wrong that you had to have redone and give him a number that you think he owes you.

Additionally in the letter, include a clause advising him that he is unwelcome to ever return to that or any other property owned by you. (This will help if he ever shows up at the house as you can prove he has been previously advised regarding 602(l) of the penal code (trespass).

Also, if you ever get to court, I'm guessing his claim will be thrown out immediately because he is unlicensed and you will get a chance at a counter claim.

Make sure you are reasonable in what you calculate your damages at. 20 days is not an unusual delay for any type of construction work and if your contract with him didn't have liquidated damages listed, I doubt you can get reimbursed on a per day basis.

What was the total original contract amount?

 Hi Todd, I appreciate your time in listing out your suggestions, including the PC for trespassing. 

The original contract was for $10,000. Plus, a HD giftcard with $2,000 for materials. I purchased all the large items: windows, flooring, appliances. He was paid 1/3 cash before beginning, plus the gift card for expenses. The major jobs were itemized on the contract and it was noted that all the miscellaneous details would be included. For example, the first major job was painting the entire interior for $3,000. It took over 3 wks plus it had to get redone because he didn’t sand the walls the first time. So 5-gallons of paint turned into 10-gallons. But, the job was done 90% satisfactorily, which that first payment covered. 

Then there is the deck, Itemized at $2,200, has been paid because by the time the interior paint was done, I gave him a CC for another $3,333. According to him the deck only needed some band-o/caulking, and patching up any holes in wood, plus paint. He didn’t fix more than 8ft of about 200sq ft of deck. And he used a spray gun to paint it and asked me to purchase 10-gallons of paint because the $2,000 gift card had run out. The paint job was a total mess, there is paint sprayed over the siding of both adjacent houses, and then back side wasn’t painted. The cost to fix everything he didn’t do plus what he didn’t even know to fix because he isn’t licensed, is $4,000, and is being worked on as I type this. 

we signed a start date of 09/10/19 and an end date of 10/10/19, he left the job or stated it was complete on 10/29 and 10/30, respectively. 

So all in all, he wants the third installment which would be $3,333. Pricing all the mistakes, everything that is going to be redone, including the flooring which he messed up and still worked on after I told him not to touch it anymore—he ended up deciding to go out with a bang and stained my original wood floors with red oak. Plus we did a little addition of $75/day for the 20 days he went over since this property is meant to be rented out. 

Per the neighbor who is a recluse, he’d show up alone everyday at 10am, 11am, sometimes noon, sometimes not at all, and while we didn’t set an agreed daily schedule, I’m sure his lax daily schedule contributed to going over by 20 days. 

thanks again for your input, just typing all this out is really stress-relieving! 

 Thanks for clarifying everything. For my 9-5, I work for a contactor so might have been bias but I had some doubts from your initial posts.

So it sounds like you've paid $6,666 to the original guy plus $2,000 in direct purchase materials (kinda) and have paid $4,000 to finish/fix the original contract amount so I'm team stephanie.

Sounds like you made a quick recovery and your direct cost of this lesson is going to be pretty reasonable all things considered. Thanks for sharing, important to share the negatives as well. 

@Stephanie Moran if this guy is playing dirty and harassing you, and he's some unlicensed handyman who doesn't really care about your formal, legal approach.... maybe send a scary buddy of yours over to give him a good shake up?