Do you have to have a contractors license to paint a neighbors home in Calif?

[avikar76]

I have been doing little handyman jobs for a neighbor for the last couple of years. I have worked for her at her estate where she resides and at her mountain home in the community where I live. All of the jobs were in the $300.00 to 400.00 range. She has always been happy with my work and I never have had a problem getting paid. I agreed to repair some drywall, texture coat her ceilings and paint the interior of her mountain vacation home last winter. In the process I slipped in the ice in front of her home, injuring my back and had to go to the hospital. After a month of recuperating, I finished the job January 15, 2011. She originally agreed to reimburse me for all materials I purchased plus my labor. Material cost was $265.00 and my labor was cost was $450.00. She hadn't returned any previous phone calls or my correspondence in almost a year. I finally confronted her yesterday to ask her why she has been avoiding me. She agreed that the job done was satisfactory, but claims that personal property was missing from her home: a comforter, a lighted christmas decoration and a used chain saw all valued at about at $150.00. She also claims that her pipes froze sometime during the winter and is blaming me for not shutting off her water. I was diligent regarding winterizing her home even when I left the job site after my days work. I believe she is fabricating these excuses in an effort to not pay me. Her next door neighbor told me she was at her cabin at least three times during the winter after I completed my work. When I told her I was going to take her to small claims court, she warned me not to pursue any action because I don't have a California contractors license and she has expensive attorneys that will sue me for doing unlicensed work. My question is can I litigate in small claims court for any part of my labor and/or the materials I purchased. I also incurred $1250.00 in medical expenses because of my back injury. What are my options?

[doran]

You need a contractors license to perform any work with a total value - materials and labor combined - of $500 or more.

California has the most Draconian laws in the nation for unlicensed contractors. If your job was valued at over $500 - and you tell us that it was - then even if you did it perfectly, you have NO right to be paid, nor even to be reimbursed for materials.

Your accident is not her fault - that there would be ice in front of an unoccupied mountain home in the winter is a foreseeable hazard, so the accident is your fault. Since you were working, your own personal medical insurer is NOT liable for your bills, and even if you had bought workers comp insurance, it would;t be liable if you were working unlicensed.

These laws are deliberately harsh, because CA has no budget to enforce the licensed contractor rules, so they wrote them in such a manner as to make it an economic incentive for the homeowner to 'enforce' them herself by hiring you and then not paying you.

Richard