California | Construction Law
Legal Question
The other side, I am an unlicensed contractor.
I am an unlicensed cabinet maker. I contracted with a homeowner to provide cabinets for thier remodel. The total of the contract was $40k, to date, I have been paid $28k. The job was drawn out with long delays with the structural repair work done by the general contractor. My installation was approximately three months late because of that. About halfway through my installation the client placed an arbitrary (and impossible) deadline to finish my work or ''they'd see me in court''. The client also became threatening and verbally abusive. I notified the GC and sent the client a letter that I would not be finishing their job because of the environment. I immediately returned $12k which I had determined was the overpaid amount based on my time and materials for the job. With the GC, I determined the cost for another cabinet maker to finish the job and offered to fund the job to completion (approximately $4k in addition to the $12k). The client would not accept my offer and told me he is suing for the original $28k, AND another $40k which he claims is the estimated cost to complete the work. When he notified me of this, I offered to return the entire $28k, which he refused. Does my liability really extend beyond the money I was paid?
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