Legal Question in Construction Law in California
Non Payment of Verbal Contract to Lic. Contractor
I am a licensed contractor who has completed several Time and Material jobs for a large firm. The last job had a number of complications not due to us. The firm was informed twice everyday as to the status of the job. The company had nothing but compliments for us. I called to check on our payment, I was told that there was a problem with some of the cabling and it needed to be taken care of. I told them I would take care of it the next day, because it was already 3:30pm (California time). they had no problems with that. About 1 hour latter they called back to tell me not to go and they were sending someone else. I told them that this was not legal and they had to give me a chance to fix my own work. They told me they can do what they want. They subtracted money from my (invoice) and treatened me.
I want to take them to court and sue for the 5,000.00 they still owe me. I have sent formal requests for the money certified.
Where do I find Law dealing with Non payment of contracts and the law stating that they have to let me warranty my own work. Also do you see any problem with using the Small Claims Courts in Califonia for this case?
JLB
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Non Payment of Verbal Contract to Lic. Contractor
Your prospective $5,000 suit is (just) within the small-claims limit in California and sounds otherwise suitable.
The law of contracts is huge and diffuse, and non-payment and its remedies is largely a matter of common law (case law) rather than statutes. As to your right to do "your own warranty work," if you have such a right it would be because it was a term of your contract; there is no such general right.
I have a couple of suggestions regarding sources of self-help instruction on the law of contracts. If there is a general contractors' association in your community, they may have a small library. Or go to your county law library and ask the librarian for a "practice guide" on the law of construction disputes.
If you are in Sonoma County, come in and see me; I have the practice guides and you can look at them in my conference room, no charge.
Re: Non Payment of Verbal Contract to Lic. Contractor
I don't entirely agree with Mr. Whipple. There is a lot of statutory law in California that deals with non-payment issues. These statutes are relatively recent (the past ten years or so) and are slowly being supplemented by case law. A lot depends on whether the job was public or private. Assuming that yours is a private job, check out the following law: Civil Code section 3260.1.
Small claims court is usually a good way to go. It's fast and it's cheap. I do have some concerns, however, that some of the judges in small claims court simply split the baby without ruling according to the law. At least this is the story I get from my clients.
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