Featured Article

June 2002

Recovering Payments to Unlicensed Contractor

By Stacey Olliff, Esq.

Prior to this year, the law in California provided that unlicensed contractors could not maintain a lawsuit in any court for unpaid fees. Contractors had to allege and prove they were licensed at all times during the time that they performed their work.

However, many unlicensed contractors survived by being paid in advance. Once the work was done and paid for, consumers had little recourse unless they could prove actual damage as a result of defective work done by the unlicensed contractor.

Business & Professions Code § 7031 was amended effective January 1, 2002 to crack down on the unlicensed contractor problem. Now anyone who utilizes the services of an unlicensed contractor may bring an action to recover all compensation paid for performance of any act or contract. It is not clear that the work in question had to have been performed after January 1, 2002. If the work was pursuant to a written contract, it appears that suit can be brought against any unlicensed contractor for work done during four years prior to filing the suit.

* * *

Back to Home

Other ECJ Bulletins

If you have any questions regarding this bulletin, please contact Stacey Olliff, Esq., at 310.281.6306 or solliff@ecjlaw.com. Correspondence regarding information contained in this issue or address corrections should be sent to our Marketing Department at marketing@ecjlaw.com