Legal Question in Construction Law in California

My husband is a unlicensed plumber and therefore I believe that his customers take advantage of that and end up not paying him. Can he still demand for payment for the work completed? Right now he has a contractor that hired him for different jobs and didn't pay him he only has texts and pictures he would send him after each job was finished. Another woman hired him to put in some tile in her bathroom and plumbing but when he was done she decided she did like it and didn't pay for either jobs. A real estate agent hired him to do work for a house he was selling and at first he told him he would receive payment after the house was sold, now that the house is sold he gave him a phone number; which never gets answers; of the old owner saying she was going pay him. Each of these persons owe him a over $1000.


Asked on 5/22/16, 3:13 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Under California law an unlicensed contractor performing work that costs more than $500, including any materials or supplies, is not entitled to be paid at all, and if he or she is paid, they can be sued by the person they did the work for and forced to give back any money they got. On top of that, they are committing a crime. Your husband is lucky the Contractor's State License Board has not found out about him and prosecuted him. He needs to get a license or become an employee of a licensed plumber, or he will continue to have customers legally refuse to pay him anything for his work and he will be at risk of criminal prosecution.

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Answered on 5/22/16, 5:31 pm


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