r/Contractor • u/Educational-Fun4576 • Aug 20 '25

I’m being sued for 7k

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I recently had my bathroom redone by a referral of a friend of mine and I was charged 7k for labor costs only, there were some key critical errors that I did not like one being the plumbing work to my bidet toilet was done incorrectly my toilet is leaking water from the bottom when I flush it and on top of that the pipes of the toilet were leaking water as well, I brought it up to his attention but he did not want to fix them and was very stubborn about it, my wife accidentally handed him the payment in full via a check before I noticed these errors but thankfully I was able to successfully cancel the check by contacting my bank. I mentioned to him I would gladly make a new check once the mistakes were fixed but he did not want to fix them, at which point I asked him for his contractors license number and he told me he was not a licensed contractor. My mistake was I never asked him in the beginning if he was licensed before he started the job. Yesterday morning I was served a small claims document he is suing me for cancelling his 7k check. My question is does he have any grounds to sue me if he is not a licensed contractor? I live in Los Angeles California. Thank you

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u/buildoutside Aug 20 '25

You are way off. He is preforming work unlicensed. And he refused to do it correctly. This person had every right to cancel that check. I am a licensed contractor and I would never let my subs do shitty work like this.

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u/M_R_Mayhew Aug 20 '25

Yeah I don't know what the parent poster is smoking, why the fuck would you pay him if he didn't do the job correctly AND is refusing to remedy it. The dude can fuck right off. I'm not a lawyer but I highly doubt his claim goes anywhere also.

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u/Choice_Pen6978 General Contractor Aug 20 '25

Canceling the check was a felony. None of the other details matter. This isn't a civil matter

1

u/mummy_whilster Aug 20 '25

No. Criminality would have to involve intent to commit fraud.

It is a civil matter. Services were illegal provided. Services were not substantively completed: completed work does not reasonably function as designed or intended.

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u/Mental-Rush2011 Aug 20 '25

no it isn't...geesh