What if any legal options do I have to collect money owed me?

[vohkinne]

Here's the story. I am a certified contractor who did extensive remodeling in fall of 2009 on an old 1930 house for my ex gf who lives in a neighboring state. She hoped to remodel her house and save thousands of dollars. The very day I completed the 7 month project she informed me she was seeing someone else and ended our relationship. Stunned, I submitted an invoice to her detailing the labor and material for all of the work I had completed. She paid me for the material only and said we never had a contract for the labor. My attempt to file a mechanics lien on her property failed because I was not licensed to work in her state. When I tried to hire a collection agency she filed charges of harassment against me and not obtaining permits for the work and not having a contractors license in her state. (BTW she works for the local police dept.) I fought and got the misdemeanor charges dismissed and paid the fines assigned by the court($4000.00) for contracting without license and permits in her state. She was fined by the city and had the court put a "No Contact" order on me for 2 years which the Public Defender told me that was to insure the statute of Limitations runs out by the time the No Contact order is removed. In Fall of this year when the No Contact Order will be lifted is there any legal avenue I can explore to get the money owed me? (About $7100.00 labor)

Looking for legitimate help. Already consulted an attorney who told me nothing unless he gets paid. So any advice will be greatly appreciated. I can not afford to lose any more money to her. Working for the police she is well versed in the laws of her state and city.

[chason62]

My ex boss hates me and wants me to go to jail and pay a 1 million dollar fine

Apparently, I owe him that much and he is sending private detectives to our house trying to find out how much money we have and what we do everyday

He wants to know if my parents are sick and what retirement money they have and if they have cancer and when they will die and how much mortgage we have and debt

Is this retarded?

The detective asked if we have millions of dollars and told me that I'm going to jail

Wtf is wrong with these People? I think that they are jealous because im an immigrant and they are all natural citizens with problems in life

They got the impression that we are rich millionaires because we know how to manage our money and they have no clue what is going on in their lives

What can I do? I'm just laughing

[weiford]

My ex boss hates me and wants me to go to jail and pay a 1 million dollar fine

Apparently, I owe him that much and he is sending private detectives to our house trying to find out how much money we have and what we do everyday

He wants to know if my parents are sick and what retirement money they have and if they have cancer and when they will die and how much mortgage we have and debt

Is this retarded?

The detective asked if we have millions of dollars and told me that I'm going to jail

Wtf is wrong with these People? I think that they are jealous because im an immigrant and they are all natural citizens with problems in life

They got the impression that we are rich millionaires because we know how to manage our money and they have no clue what is going on in their lives

What can I do? I'm just laughing

No you have no legal recourse. You were not licensed in the state and you had no contract with her in place. This is why you sign contracts whenever you do work for someone like this, even if it's your best friend or your girlfriend. There's nothing to say it wasn't a gift. It's obvious you wouldn't have charged her if she didn't break up with you, so I don't see much evidence in your favor that would compel a court to pay you anything.

[vemados]

Sounds like you had a contract for the materials--why didn't you include labor? And what judge considers hiring a collection agency harassment?

I've had work done to my house--it is the responsibility of the homeowner to pull the permits, but usually the contractor does it for a fee. I'm sure these laws vary from state to state though.

This job has already cost you $4000 in fines due to some shortcuts, you may want to walk away at this point, chalk it up to experience. Very expensive lesson. What about small claims court? Maybe the inconvenience of having to go to court may get some money out of her.

I'm sincerely sorry to hear about it--probably not much help here. But it seems there is a lot more to the story.

[lawly1]

Sounds like you had a contract for the materials--why didn't you include labor? And what judge considers hiring a collection agency harassment?

I've had work done to my house--it is the responsibility of the homeowner to pull the permits, but usually the contractor does it for a fee. I'm sure these laws vary from state to state though.

This job has already cost you $4000 in fines due to some shortcuts, you may want to walk away at this point, chalk it up to experience. Very expensive lesson. What about small claims court? Maybe the inconvenience of having to go to court may get some money out of her.

I'm sincerely sorry to hear about it--probably not much help here. But it seems there is a lot more to the story.

[oakley]

She cannot have it both ways; if she is making the legal argument that since you were not a licensed contractor in the state and failed to pull permits that you should not be paid for your work; then the worked you did should not be up to code and zoning should go into the home and require everything open up, licensed contractor to pull permits and to have code enforcement inspect the renovations

Unfortunately not sure your legal recourse to recover for work performed , which required you to be licensed in the state in order to perform the work

[wynn]

Even if you had no proof of a written contract (you had plenty of proof of an oral contract), you can certainly bring an action in assumpsit (non-payment) or possibly for quantum meruit, i.e., the value of the services she obtained. This is a generally acceptable way to recover money from someone who would otherwise obtain an "unjust enrichment" at your expense. If she claims your labor was given to her as a "gift", you will need a way to prove that it wasn't.

For example, I ask you to wash my car, both of us figuring about ten bucks, and I leave it with you. I don't come back right away so you decide to detail the car from front to rear, touching up the paint, shampoo carpets, etc., which would cost $200. You give me a bill for $200 and I refuse to pay more than $10, as agreed. I could sue for quantum meruit, claiming that you have obtained $200 worth of enhanced value, beyond the contract, and the court may simply pay me minimum wage for the hours I can prove I worked on your car. I could claim you didn't have any of the necessary permits to operate the business, but that doesn't change the fact that I obtained the enhanced value.

Your local attorney will advise you whether your particular circumstances may fit within the laws of the state in which you sue her.

Not clear why anyone would care about your licenses if you're simply filing a lien, unless you have some strange state law that limits such things. For instance, not all trades are licensed, so if I don't pay my lawn and garden guy for a year, can't he put a lien on the property for the unpaid debt?