Can someone get in trouble for claiming to be a licensed contractor when they are not?
i don't really care but it turns out he is threatening to sue me for an injury he did to himself while working for me. most people think his case is total b.s. but i wonder if i have any leverage by threatening to report that he is doing foundation work with no license or insurrance. what would he have to lose if he manages to make a living just fine without a licence? is it criminal what he is doing? of coarse, i would have a hard time proving that he told us he was licenced.
Answers:
Different states treat this differently, and some states don't even require contractors to be licensed. In CA it is a misdemeanor to do any work over $500 (labor and materials) without a license.
California Business & Professions Code section 7027.3. "Any person, licensed or unlicensed, who willfully and intentionally uses, with intent to defraud, a contractor's license number that does not correspond to the number on a currently valid contractor's license held by that person, is punishable by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in state prison, or in county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment."
In CA, a homeowner can sue to recover all money paid to an unlicensed contractor. See MW Erectors v. Neiderhauser Ornamental and Metal Works Company, and Bus. & Prof. Code section 7031.
yes, it is illegal to claim to be licensed when you are not, just like practicing law without a license and treating patients without a license.
Yes..but he can still sue.
Do not know the details, but in a nutshell, if you advertise that you are licensed and bonded and are not.. Yeppers. Now comes the hair splitting. Anytime a contractor hires another one in, they are supposed to get a copy of their license and bond. It's a CYA on your part. Any faulty work they do goes back on your bond with out it. If you are a home owner, you have NO way to go back on himfor faulty work as well. I suggest you try to work it out without threats and court, as you might get yourself in trouble too for hiring out jobs to people without a license or bonding.
The answers post by the user, for information only, FreeLawAnswer.com does not guarantee the right.
Answer question:
More Law Questions and Answers: