# Any ideas on how to handle this contractor situation?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ideas-on-how-to-handle-this-contractor-situation/850217
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 25, 2020, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ideas-on-how-to-handle-this-contractor-situation/850217 "2020-03-25T00:27:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2020, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ideas-on-how-to-handle-this-contractor-situation/850217/61 "2020-05-15T05:08:32Z")
Would that be possible? Could the guy actually holding the license send someone to finish the work, in order to make everyone’s life a bit easier? Sucks for him either way, but it’s either some free labor or a court proceeding, right?
This is why lawyers are the butt of such vicious jokes. I totally get what he’s advising you, and from a strictly logical standpoint that may be the best course. But sometimes the right thing to do isn’t the right thing to do, yanno?
Shitty situation, and you (and the poor business owner!) have my sympathy.
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2020, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ideas-on-how-to-handle-this-contractor-situation/850217/62 "2020-05-15T12:05:55Z")
> [@beowulff](#):
>
> Update:
> The inspector from the Registrar of Contractors came out and documented all the work that hadn’t been done, and sent a letter to the license holder, giving them 3 weeks to finish the work.
> That resulted in a phone call from a very panicked guy, who was surprised as hell to get that letter. Turns out that the contractor was an employee of his, and was using his license without his permission. So, now it’s really complicated.
> The business owner seems like a nice guy and is understandably upset by the idea that he might lose his license, and is looking at suing the contractor for fraud. My wife doesn’t want him to suffer any harm, but the only way that we are likely to get any money back is to sue him, and let him deal with recovering any judgment from the contractor. Our lawyer says that’s exactly what we should do, but I’m not sure we are willing to subject an innocent party to such damage.
> So, many more sleepless night are in our future.
I would follow your lawyer’s advice. The more you know, the murkier it gets. I think that the only way this gets resolved well for you is through the courts.
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### Author:  [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2020, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ideas-on-how-to-handle-this-contractor-situation/850217/63 "2020-05-15T13:10:42Z")
> [@beowulff](#):
>
> Update:
> The inspector from the Registrar of Contractors came out and documented all the work that hadn’t been done, and sent a letter to the license holder, giving them 3 weeks to finish the work.
> That resulted in a phone call from a very panicked guy, who was surprised as hell to get that letter. Turns out that the contractor was an employee of his, and was using his license without his permission. So, now it’s really complicated.
> The business owner seems like a nice guy and is understandably upset by the idea that he might lose his license, and is looking at suing the contractor for fraud. My wife doesn’t want him to suffer any harm, but the only way that we are likely to get any money back is to sue him, and let him deal with recovering any judgment from the contractor. Our lawyer says that’s exactly what we should do, but I’m not sure we are willing to subject an innocent party to such damage.
> So, many more sleepless night are in our future.
As I said, I’m a contractor. Sounds to me like the ball is in his court–the only way he doesn’t lose his license is if you lie for him and say he completed the work. Don’t do that. Maybe it’s not technically his fault, but he hired the guy and there appears to be a vast lack of oversight to spread around. What kind of dollar figure are we talking about, anyway? My gut feeling based on not much is +/- $20k. That is not a life-ending number for a reputable contractor, and may in fact be covered by his insurance.
As far a liens, well, they suck, but it was explained to me that in many cases (including damages from lawsuits) the only way to collect is if the person liened owns real property. So you can sue the fake contractor for a bazillion dollars, but if he doesn’t have real property (house, shop) in the state to attach, you’re SOL. Same with a supplier, and the only party you as a supplier knows has real property is the homeowner… Lien waivers, people–there’s a reason banks require them.
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ideas-on-how-to-handle-this-contractor-situation/850217/64 "2020-05-15T14:06:31Z")
Have you heard from the architect? I wonder if he has some liability in all this.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2020, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ideas-on-how-to-handle-this-contractor-situation/850217/65 "2020-05-15T14:58:59Z")
Any ideas I can think of get overly convoluted the more I think about it. I think your best bet is to follow your lawyers advice.
I can think of one possible modification though. Sue the business owner for the amount you paid the contractor. What the business owner does to recover that money is for him to figure out.
Then, negotiate a totally separate deal with the business owner that he comes in and finishes the job and the cost of the project is the same amount that you’re suing him for. The contract would be contingent on you winning the lawsuit, being awarded the judgement and receiving a check from him for that amount that you would sign back over to him.
In a perfect world, the business owner can finish the project to his specifications and it’s one less worry for him. You get a finished addition AND someone that’s ultimately liable if something goes wrong.
Keep in mind that if you didn’t find out about this guy now and something happened with the addition years down the road, you’d likely be SOL.
Ultimately, I think suing the actual license holder is going to be your best bet. If you sue the guy that did the work, I’d be surprised if you ever collected (I’d be surprised if he even showed up to court).
> [@madmonk28](#):
>
> Have you heard from the architect? I wonder if he has some liability in all this.
Unless you can prove that he knew the contractor was doing this, I really doubt it. And, that’s the way it should be. People shouldn’t have to worry about being (legally) liable for making recommendations.
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ideas-on-how-to-handle-this-contractor-situation/850217/66 "2020-05-15T15:07:48Z")
I was wondering if the architect had colluded with the contractor. In general, I don’t go with contractors recommended by the designer or say, a real estate agent because of the risk of bid rigging, driving the job up, etc.
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