Legal Question in Construction Law in California

Re: Breach of Contract, Second Question.

To lodge a complaint with the CSLB, go to their website. Go to the Google search engine (www.google.com) and just type in "California Contractors State License Board." They have phone numbers and complaint forms online.

To complain to your local district attorney, look in the government pages in the phone book. Ask the receptionist who you should talk to about consumer protection from unscrupulous contractors. (They may refer you right back to the CSLB, but press them a bit and say that it's important to have the local authorities look into this guy.)

Filing a lawsuit is much more difficult. You can try www.nolo.com for self-help books (about $25) on filing a lawsuit, but, otherwise, you'll have to hire a lawyer. Unfortunately, you're in what I call "no man's land." This is the amount between $7500 and $20,000. If you're owed between these two amounts, there's no economical way to hire a lawyer to sue. Even a simple trial will take 50 hours to prepare for. At $200/hour, you've just spent $10,000. I often recommend to clients who have lost, say, $7500 to simply go to small claims court and write off the $2500 over the small claims limit. I've been in favor of raising the small claims limit to $10,000 or even $15,000 for some time.

In your case, since you've lost $8000, you may wish to go to small claims court, even if it means writing off the $3000. I can't stress enough the difference between small claims court and superior court. Small claims court is very, very easy while superior court is very, very difficult.

Finally, I believe you mentioned that you thought that this guy was unlicensed. If so, you can pursue him for all $13,000. A new law in January allows people to get back everything they paid to an unlicensed contractor, even if the unlicensed contractor did some legitimate work.

If you find that the guy is licensed (check the CSLB website), then you will want to pursue his license bond. This license bond is for $7500, but, frankly, it's pretty difficult for a person to get this bond without a lawyer helping out.