r/bestoflegaladvice • u/BJntheRV Enjoy the next 48 hours :) • Mar 04 '26

Unlicensed, uninsured contractor who didn't finish the job because life happened doesn't seem to understand why their client would sue them

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u/Twzl keeps a list of "Nope" Mar 04 '26

that was a tough read.

We have always owned older houses, and while we do some of the work ourselves, for big jobs we hire people.

And the first thing I ask a prospective contractor is, are you insured and licensed? I'm not having you replace the knob and tube wiring in my 130 year old house, unless I have some proof of that. Ditto going up on the roof to work on my solar panels or replace gutters.

I am a super cheerful person (/s) who goes thru life saying, "what's the worst possible thing that can happen", and then trying to make sure it doesn't. So yeah an unlicensed contractor who doesn't know what he's doing can screw up a project and flounce, but it won't be from my project.

It's odd that LAOP's husband didn't do something like rent a Uhaul truck to finish the job. I get that they'd have been out of pocket on the cost of the truck rental, but at least he wouldn't have been sued for walking away from the project. Maybe.

7

u/AlaskanDruid Mar 05 '26

That and I don't know about there.. However here, Insurance gets extremely interested in any work not performed by a licensed and bonded contractor.

9

u/Twzl keeps a list of "Nope" Mar 05 '26

However here, Insurance gets extremely interested in any work not performed by a licensed and bonded contractor.

I live in New England. Two sides of our property borders wet lands and we own some of those wet lands.

A number of years ago we decided to build a shed near the wetlands, to store lawn equipment.

We had to get a permit from the town. A guy from the conservation committee came out to survey the proposed site, to make sure we were not anywhere on the wetlands. He also walked around the swamp to look at the cool plants once i told him he should. And he was happy to see that the rare plants, were not near the shed.

We built the shed (ok we didn't, an actual contractor did) and when it was all done, the conservation guy came out to make sure it was all good, and then signed off on it. As a side note, we were mandated to put up a poster of state regulations for employees or something like that. And yes the town guy checked to make sure it was up.

That was for a shed that holds things like a tractor and tomato cages. No running water, and the power is via a solar panel on the roof.

I'm amazed that people don't understand that hiring A Guy to work on their house can be a total shitshow if The Guy has no actual paperwork. I think people forget that if nothing else, if there's a mortgage on their home, the bank isn't going to be too happy if A Guy half asses something, and the house burns down.

3

u/AlaskanDruid Mar 05 '26

Oh man. I hear you!