The Punishment of Hiring Unlicensed Contractors in Los Angeles

| Monday, January 9, 2012
By Samantha Estrada


It's crucial that you know that employing an unlicensed contractor is completely illegal in California. Individuals contracting in California without their certificate will face a big fee of $5,000, or may end up spending half a year in jail. In addition, the customer may also fulfill jail time for hiring an unlicensed contractor. The California state law requires all construction work that cost $500 or more for work and materials must be handled by a licensed contractor. There are several reasons why it's not a good idea to employ unlicensed contractors in Los Angeles.

Reasons Why You Shouldn't Hire Unlicensed Contractors in Los Angeles

If at any time an unlicensed contractor gets hurt on your property, they have the authority to sue you. Majority of these illegal contractors have no coverage by insurance. The best thing about these contractors is that they come at a inexpensive price; however there also comes a great risk. The risk factor is that if a worker that's employed by an unlicensed contractor gets hurt on the job; the property owner might be liable, which will increase their insurance rates.

Another reason why it's bad to hire an unlicensed contractor is because they do terrible work. There have been complaints from folks that the contractors would gain benefit from the property owners, but they would barely perform any work. For instance, a family hired a contractor to remodel their house. The project was to be accomplished within a year. However, two years had gone by and the job was never finished. There were areas in the house that still had damaged walls and ceilings, along with construction gear left inside the house. The workers never came back which caused the family to employ another contractor. Sometimes ads that offer extremely cheap estimates can be a little sketchy. At most instances a full payment in advance might be required when it comes to these low-cost estimates. It's best encouraged to not go for these offers because there have been occurrences where folks have been ripped off. For example, an unlicensed contractor may demand the money ahead of time and never show up in your doorway again. It's easy to find unlicensed contractors in Los Angeles. Their goal is to make use of the cheapest means to market themselves, which could be from a newspaper ad, or even business cards that are left inside shops. It's also important that a licensed contractor must have their license from the same state of where the work is to be done.

How to acquire a Licensed Contractor in Los Angeles

You should make sure that you do your research when employing a licensed contractor. It's better to be secure than sorry as the charges can be severe in the end. A great way of hiring a licensed contractor is by contacting previous customers that can edify you to them. It's also advised to have an lawyer review the documents before signing the agreements. It's also recommended to have an attorney review the documents before signing the agreements.




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